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{{Short description|President of the United States from 1993 to 2001}}
{{Redirect|William Clinton|other people with the name}}
{{Redirect|William J. Clinton|the painting|William J. Clinton (Close){{!}}''William J. Clinton'' (Close)|the ship|USS William J. Clinton{{!}}USS ''William J. Clinton''}}

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{{Use American English|date=February 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = Bill Clinton.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1993
| alt                 = Clinton's official presidential portrait, 1993
| order               = 42nd
| office              = President of the United States
| vicepresident       = [[Al Gore]]
| term_start          = January 20, 1993
| term_end            = January 20, 2001
| predecessor         = [[George H. W. Bush]]
| successor           = [[George W. Bush]]
| order2              = 40th and 42nd [[List of governors of Arkansas|Governor of Arkansas]]
| lieutenant2         = {{ubl |[[Winston Bryant]] |Jim Guy Tucker}}
| term_start2         = January 11, 1983
| term_end2           = December 12, 1992
| predecessor2        = [[Frank D. White]]
| successor2          = [[Jim Guy Tucker]]
| lieutenant3         = Joe Purcell
| term_start3         = January 9, 1979
| term_end3           = January 19, 1981
| predecessor3        = [[Joe Purcell]] (acting)
| successor3          = [[Frank D. White]]
| office6             = 50th [[Attorney General of Arkansas]]
| governor6           = {{ubl |[[David Pryor]] |Joe Purcell (acting)}}
| term_start6         = January 3, 1977
| term_end6           = January 9, 1979
| predecessor6        = Jim Guy Tucker
| successor6          = [[Steve Clark (Arkansas politician)|Steve Clark]]
| birth_name          = William Jefferson Blythe III
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1946|8|19}}
| birth_place         = [[Hope, Arkansas]], U.S.
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Hillary Clinton|Hillary Rodham]]|October 11, 1975}}
| children            = [[Chelsea Clinton]]
| parents             = {{ubl |[[William Jefferson Blythe Jr.]] |[[Virginia Clinton Kelley|Virginia Cassidy]]}}
| education           = {{ubl |[[Georgetown University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]]) |[[University College, Oxford]] (attended) |[[Yale University]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])}}
| relatives           = [[Clinton family]]
| signature           = Signature of Bill Clinton.svg
| signature_alt       = William J Clinton signature.svg
| awards              = [[List of awards and honors received by Bill Clinton|Full list]]
| website             = {{ubl |{{URL|https://www.clintonfoundation.org/clinton-presidential-center/|Presidential library}} |{{URL|clintonfoundation.org|Clinton Foundation}} |{{URL|clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov|White House archives}}}}
| module              = {{Listen |pos=center |embed=yes |filename=Bill Clinton speaks on U.S. decision to join NATO forces in military airstrikes against Serbia.ogg |title=Clinton's voice |type=speech |description=Clinton on the U.S. decision to join [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|NATO airstrikes in Yugoslavia]]<br>Recorded March 24, 1999}}
}}
{{Bill Clinton series}}
'''William Jefferson <!--NOTE: Do not add "Bill" here per [[WP:HYPOCORISM]].--> Clinton''' ({{né|'''Blythe III'''}}; August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer <!--NOTE: The lead sentence should stick to what he is primarily known for. The infobox is there to include additional occupations.--> who was the 42nd [[president of the United States]] from 1993 to 2001. A member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], he previously served as the [[attorney general of Arkansas]] from 1977 to 1979 and as the [[governor of Arkansas]] from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992. His centrist "[[Third Way]]" [[New Democrats (United States)|political philosophy]] became known as [[Clintonism]], which dominated [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|his presidency]] and the succeeding decades of [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party history]].

Born and raised in [[Arkansas]], Clinton graduated from [[Georgetown University]] in 1968, and later from [[Yale Law School]], where he met his future wife, [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary Rodham]]. After graduating from law school, Clinton returned to [[Arkansas]] and won election as state attorney general, followed by [[Governorships of Bill Clinton|two non-consecutive tenures as Arkansas governor]]. As governor, he overhauled the state's education system and served as [[Chair (officer)|chairman]] of the [[National Governors Association]]. Clinton was elected president in the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 election]], defeating the incumbent [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] president [[George H. W. Bush]], and the independent businessman [[Ross Perot]]. He became the first president to be born in the [[Baby Boomer]] generation and the [[List of presidents of the United States by age|youngest]] to serve two full terms.

Clinton presided over the second longest period of peacetime economic expansion in [[American history]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leggate |first=James |date=July 1, 2019 |title=US economy breaks record with post-recession expansion |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/us-economy-breaks-record-with-post-recession-expansion |access-date=February 3, 2025 |website=[[Fox Business]]}}</ref> He signed into law the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] and the [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act]] but failed to pass his plan for [[Clinton health care plan of 1993|national health care reform]]. Starting in the mid-1990s, he began an ideological evolution as he became much more conservative in his domestic policy, advocating for and signing the [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act]], the [[State Children's Health Insurance Program]] and financial deregulation measures. He appointed [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] and [[Stephen Breyer]] to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U.S. military intervention in the [[Bosnian War|Bosnian]] and [[Kosovo war]]s, eventually signing the [[Dayton Agreement|Dayton Peace agreement]]. He also called for the [[expansion of NATO]] in Eastern Europe and many former [[Warsaw Pact]] members joined NATO during his presidency. Clinton's foreign policy in the Middle East saw him sign the [[Iraq Liberation Act]] which gave aid to groups against [[Saddam Hussein]]. He also participated in the [[Oslo I Accord]] and [[2000 Camp David Summit|Camp David Summit]] to advance the [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process]], and assisted the [[Northern Ireland peace process]].

Clinton won re-election in the [[1996 United States presidential election|1996 election]], defeating Republican nominee [[Bob Dole]] and returning [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]] nominee Ross Perot. In his second term, Clinton made use of [[Permanent normal trade relations|permanent normal trade]]. Many of his second term accomplishments were overshadowed by [[Clinton–Lewinsky scandal|his highly publicised affair]] with [[White House]] intern [[Monica Lewinsky]], when it was revealed in early 1998 that the two had been engaging in an eighteen-month-long sexual relationship.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Twenty years ago, the Drudge Report broke the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/twenty-years-ago-the-drudge-report-broke-the-clinton-lewinsky-scandal/2018/01/09/3df90b7a-e0ec-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html |access-date=April 6, 2022 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> This scandal escalated throughout the year, culminating in December when [[Impeachment of Bill Clinton|Clinton was impeached]] by the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached since [[Andrew Johnson]]. The two impeachment articles that the House passed were centered around [[perjury]] and Clinton using the powers of the presidency to commit obstruction of justice. In January 1999, [[Impeachment trial of Bill Clinton|Clinton's impeachment trial]] began in the [[United States Senate|Senate]], where he was acquitted two months later on both charges. During the last three years of Clinton's presidency, the [[Congressional Budget Office]] reported a budget surplus—the first and only such surplus since 1969.

Clinton left office in 2001 with the joint-highest approval rating of any U.S. president. His presidency ranks among the middle to upper tier in [[historical rankings of U.S. presidents]]. His personal conduct and [[Bill Clinton sexual assault and misconduct allegations|misconduct allegations]] have made him the subject of substantial scrutiny. Since leaving office, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the [[Clinton Foundation]] to address international causes such as the prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming. In 2009, he was named the [[Special Envoy of the Secretary-General|United Nations special envoy to Haiti]]. After the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]], Clinton founded the [[Clinton Bush Haiti Fund]] with [[George W. Bush]]. He has remained active in Democratic Party politics, campaigning for his wife's [[Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign|2008]] and [[Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential campaigns]]. Following [[Jimmy Carter]]'s [[Death and state funeral of Jimmy Carter|death]] in December 2024, he is the earliest-serving living former U.S. president and the last surviving president to have served in the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite news |title=After the death of Jimmy Carter, how many former US presidents are still alive today? |newspaper=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/12/29/past-living-presidents-ages/8107526002/ |access-date=December 31, 2024}}</ref>
{{liberalism US}}

==Early life and career==
[[File:President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site May 2018 3 (Bill Clinton Birthplace).jpg|thumb|Clinton's [[President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site|birthplace]] home in [[Hope, Arkansas]]|left]]
Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in [[Hope, Arkansas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://homepage.eircom.net/%257Eseanjmurphy/dir/pres.htm |title=Directory of Irish Genealogy: American Presidents with Irish Ancestors |publisher=Homepage.eircom.net |date=March 23, 2004 |access-date=August 30, 2011 |archive-date=December 9, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001209100500/http://homepage.eircom.net/%257Eseanjmurphy/dir/pres.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> He is the son of [[William Jefferson Blythe Jr.]], a traveling salesman who died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and [[Virginia Clinton Kelley|Virginia Dell Cassidy]] (later Virginia Kelley).<ref name="whitehouse.gov bio">{{cite web |title=Biography of William J. Clinton |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/about/presidents/williamjclinton |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |access-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref> 

Clinton's parents married on September 4, 1943, but this union later proved bigamous, as Blythe was still married to his fourth wife.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/21/us/clinton-reported-to-have-a-brother-he-never-met.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 21, 1993|first=Edmund L.|last=Andrews |author-link=Edmund L. Andrews |title=Clinton Reported to Have A Brother He Never Met}}</ref> Virginia traveled to [[New Orleans]] to study nursing soon after Bill was born, leaving him in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store.<ref name="My Life" /> At a time when the southern United States was [[Racial segregation in the United States|racially segregated]], Clinton's grandparents sold goods on [[credit (finance)|credit]] to people of all races.<ref name="My Life" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Chafe |first=William H. |author-link=William Chafe |date=2012 |title=Bill and Hillary: The Politics of the Personal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtSjqGxPkM0C&pg=PA11 |location=New York |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |page=11 |isbn=978-0-8090-9465-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Landres |editor1-first=J. Shawn |editor-link=Shawn Landres |date=1992 |title=Bill Clinton: The Inside Story |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63OGMhI5ISgC&pg=PA5 |location=New York |publisher=S.P.I. Books |pages=5–6 |isbn=978-1-5617-1177-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Takiff |first=Michael |date=2010 |title=A Complicated Man: The Life of Bill Clinton as Told by Those who Know Him |url=https://archive.org/details/complicatedmanl00taki |url-access=registration |location=New Haven, Conn. |publisher=Yale University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/complicatedmanl00taki/page/4 4] |isbn=978-0-3001-2130-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |editor1-last=Flanagan |editor1-first=Sylvia P. |date=September 8, 1997 |title=First Black Food Stamp Chief has Ties to President Clinton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3j8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10 |magazine=Jet |location=Chicago |publisher=John N. Johnson |page=10}}</ref> In 1950, Bill's mother returned from nursing school and married [[Roger Clinton Sr.]], who co-owned an [[Car dealership|automobile dealership]] in [[Hot Springs, Arkansas]], with his brother and [[Earl T. Ricks]].<ref name="My Life">{{Cite book|last=Clinton|first=Bill|title=My Life|publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2004|isbn=978-1-4000-3003-3}}</ref> The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950.<ref>{{cite book|first=Ken|last=Gormley|author-link=Ken Gormley (academic)|title=The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr|publisher=[[Crown Publishers]]|location=New York|year=2010|isbn=978-0-307-40944-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/deathofamericanv00gorm/page/16 16–17]|url=https://archive.org/details/deathofamericanv00gorm/page/16}}</ref> Although he immediately assumed use of his stepfather's surname, it was not until Clinton turned 15<ref name="Oprah Talks to Bill Clinton">{{cite web|url=http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Oprah-Interviews-President-Bill-Clinton/3|title=Oprah Talks to Bill Clinton|work=[[O, The Oprah Magazine]]|date=August 2004|access-date=December 18, 2011|archive-date=August 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808073312/http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oprah-interviews-president-bill-clinton/3|url-status=dead}}</ref> that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward him.<ref name="My Life" /> Clinton has described his stepfather as a gambler and an alcoholic who regularly abused his family. The physical abuse only ceased after a then-14-year-old Bill challenged his stepfather to "stand and face" him, though the verbal abuse continued.<ref name="First in His Class">{{Cite book|last=Maraniss|first=David |author-link=David Maraniss |title=First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton|publisher=Touchstone|page=40|year=1996|isbn=978-0-684-81890-0|url=https://archive.org/details/firstinhisclass00davi}}</ref> Bill would eventually forgive Roger Sr. for his abusive actions near the latter's death.<ref name="Holmes">{{cite book |last=Holmes |first=David|title=The Faiths of the Postwar Presidents. From Truman to Obama |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=2012 |page=148 |isbn=9780820338620}}</ref><ref name="Levin">{{cite book |last=Levin |first=Robert | title=Bill Clinton. The Inside Story|publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=1992 |page=52 |isbn=9781561711772}}</ref>

In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. John's Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and the [[School segregation in the United States|segregated]] [[Hot Springs High School (Arkansas)|Hot Springs High School]], where he was an active student leader, avid reader, and musician.<ref name="My Life" /> Clinton was in the chorus and played the [[tenor saxophone]], winning first chair in the state band's saxophone section. While in high school, Clinton performed for two years in a jazz trio, The 3 Kings, with [[Randy Goodrum]], who became a successful professional pianist.<ref>{{cite book | last =Levin | first =Robert | authorlink = | title =  Bill Clinton: The Inside Story| publisher =S.P.I. Books | series = | volume = | edition = | date =1992 | location = | pages = 26–29| language = | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=63OGMhI5ISgC&dq=Randy+Goodrum+Bill+Clinton&pg=PA26 | doi = | id = | isbn =9781561711772 | quote=}}</ref>

In 1961, Clinton became a member of the Hot Springs Chapter of the [[DeMolay International|Order of DeMolay]], a youth group affiliated with [[Freemasonry]], but he never became a Freemason.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bill Clinton's Hometown Homepage |url=https://www.hotspringsar.com/info/clinton/ |website=www.hotspringsar.com |access-date=October 19, 2022 |location=Hot Springs, Arkansas}}</ref> He briefly considered dedicating his life to music, but felt that his musical skills would never match the skills of the best musicians, so pursued politics instead.<ref name="My Life" />

[[File:Bill Clinton in 1963 Old Gold Book.jpg|thumb|upright|Clinton in [[Hot Springs High School (Arkansas)|Hot Springs High School]]'s 1963 yearbook]]
Clinton began an interest in law at Hot Springs High when he took up the challenge to argue the defense of the ancient [[Roman Senator|Roman senator]] [[Catiline]] in a mock trial in his Latin class.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/bill-clinton-facts_n_3497083.html | title=10 Things You Definitely Didn't Know About Bill Clinton | work=[[HuffPost|The Huffington Post]] | date=June 25, 2013 | first=Jimmy | last=Soni |author-link=Jimmy Soni}}</ref> After a vigorous defense that made use of his "budding rhetorical and political skills", he told the Latin teacher Elizabeth Buck it "made him realize that someday he would study law".<ref>{{cite book | title=First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton | first=David | last=Maraniss |author-link=David Maraniss | year=1996 | publisher=Touchstone | page=43}}</ref>

Clinton has identified two influential moments in his life, both occurring in 1963, that contributed to his decision to become a public figure. One was his visit as a [[Boys Nation]] senator to the [[White House]] to meet President [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref name="First in His Class" /> The other was watching [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]'s 1963 "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech on TV, which impressed him so much that he later memorized it.<ref>{{cite web | title=It All Began in a Place Called Hope (Archived whitehouse.gov Article) | publisher=[[White House]] | url=http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/Hope.html | access-date=August 30, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719152125/http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/Hope.html | archive-date=July 19, 2011 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

==College and law school years==
===Georgetown University===
[[File:Clinton at Georgetown 1967.jpg|thumb|upright|Clinton ran for president of the [[Georgetown University Student Association|Student Council]] while attending the School of Foreign Service at [[Georgetown University]].]]

With the aid of scholarships, Clinton attended the [[School of Foreign Service]] at [[Georgetown University]] in Washington, D.C., receiving a [[Bachelor of Science]] in foreign service in 1968. Georgetown was the only university where Clinton applied.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kiefer |first1=Francine |title=Clinton: The Early Years |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0529/052998.us.us.3.html |access-date=April 9, 2021 |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=May 29, 1998}}</ref>

In 1964 and 1965, Clinton won elections for [[class president]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert E. Levin|title=Bill Clinton: The Inside Story|url=https://archive.org/details/billclinton00robe|url-access=registration|year=1992|publisher=SP Books|isbn=978-1-56171-177-2|pages=xxiv–xxv}}</ref> From 1964 to 1967, he was an intern and then a clerk in the office of Arkansas senator [[J. William Fulbright]].<ref name="My Life" /> While in college, he became a brother of service fraternity [[Alpha Phi Omega]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.apo.org/leadershipdevelopment | title=About Leadership | publisher=APO.org | access-date=April 7, 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101064634/http://apo.org/Leadershipdevelopment | archive-date=January 1, 2013 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> and was elected to [[Phi Beta Kappa]]. He is a member of [[Kappa Kappa Psi]] honorary band fraternity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kkpsi.org/prominentmembers.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716182330/http://www.kkpsi.org/prominentmembers.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |title=Prominent Members |publisher=Kappa Kappa Psi |access-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref>

===Oxford===
Upon graduating from Georgetown in 1968, Clinton won a [[Rhodes Scholarship]] to [[University College, Oxford]], where he initially read for a [[B.Phil.]] in [[Philosophy, Politics, and Economics|philosophy, politics, and economics]] but transferred to a [[Bachelor of Letters|B.Litt.]] in politics and, ultimately, a B.Phil. in politics.<ref name="Hoffman">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/the-bill-clinton-we-knew-at-oxford-apart-from-smoking-dope-and-not-inhaling-what-else-did-he-learn-1556769.html|title=The Bill Clinton we knew at Oxford: Apart from smoking dope (and not inhaling), what else did he learn over here? College friends share their memories with Matthew Hoffman|first=Matthew|last=Hoffman|date=October 11, 1992|work=The Independent|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=June 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623195343/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/the-bill-clinton-we-knew-at-oxford-apart-from-smoking-dope-and-not-inhaling-what-else-did-he-learn-1556769.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Clinton did not expect to return for the second year because of the draft and so he switched programs; this type of activity was common among other Rhodes Scholars from his cohort. He was offered to study at [[Yale Law School]], so he left early to return to the United States and did not receive a degree from Oxford.<ref name="First in His Class" /><ref name="Dowd">{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/09/world/oxford-journal-whereas-he-is-an-old-boy-if-a-young-chief-honor-him.html | title=Oxford Journal; Whereas, He Is an Old Boy, If a Young Chief, Honor Him | last=Dowd | first=Maureen | author-link=Maureen Dowd | work=The New York Times | date=June 9, 1994 | access-date=July 17, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Hitch-22: A Memoir | first=Christopher | last=Hitchens |author-link=Christopher Hitchens | chapter=Chris or Christopher? | pages=106–107 | publisher=Atlantic books | location= London | isbn= 978-1-84354-922-2| date=December 4, 2010 }}</ref>

Clinton befriended fellow American Rhodes Scholar Frank Aller during his time at Oxford. In 1969, Aller received a [[Draft lottery (1969)|draft]] letter that mandated deployment to the [[Vietnam War]]. Aller's 1971 suicide had an influential impact on Clinton.<ref name="Hoffman"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/22/magazine/most-likely-to-succeed.html|title=Most Likely to Succeed|first=Alessandra|last=Stanley |author-link=Alessandra Stanley |date=November 22, 1992|work=The New York Times}}</ref> British writer and feminist [[Sara Maitland]] said of Clinton, "I remember Bill and Frank Aller taking me to a pub in Walton Street in the summer term of 1969 and talking to me about the Vietnam War. I knew nothing about it, and when Frank began to describe the napalming of civilians I began to cry. Bill said that feeling bad wasn't good enough. That was the first time I encountered the idea that liberal sensitivities weren't enough and you had to do something about such things".<ref name="Hoffman"/> Clinton was a member of the [[Oxford University Men's Basketball|Oxford University Basketball Club]] and also played for Oxford University's [[rugby union]] team.<ref>{{cite book | title=Rugby Union for Dummies |first1=Nick | last1=Cain |first2=Greg | last2=Growden |author2-link=Greg Growden |name-list-style=amp | chapter=21: Ten Peculiar Facts about Rugby | page=297 | edition=2 | publisher=John Wiley and Sons | location= [[Chichester]], England | isbn=978-0-470-03537-5|year=2006 }}</ref>

While Clinton was president in 1994, he received an honorary [[Doctor of Civil Law]] degree and a fellowship from the [[University of Oxford]], specifically for being "a doughty and tireless champion of the cause of world peace", having "a powerful collaborator in his wife", and for winning "general applause for his achievement of resolving the gridlock that prevented an agreed budget".<ref name="Dowd"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/doctor-without-a-thesis-bill-clinton-gets-an-oxford-degree-today-but-jonathan-eyals-verdict-on-his-1421189.html|title=Doctor without a thesis: Bill Clinton gets an Oxford degree today, but Jonathan Eyal's verdict on his term's work is: a disaster|first=Jonathan|last=Eyal|date=June 8, 1994|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=June 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623193859/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/doctor-without-a-thesis-bill-clinton-gets-an-oxford-degree-today-but-jonathan-eyals-verdict-on-his-1421189.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Vietnam War opposition and draft controversy===
During the Vietnam War, Clinton received educational draft deferments while he was in England in 1968 and 1969.<ref>{{cite book|author=Neil A. Hamilton|title=Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfbt5NXvF64C&pg=PA366|year=2005|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0816-2|page=366}}</ref> While at Oxford, he participated in [[Opposition to the Vietnam War|Vietnam War protests]] and organized a [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam]] event in October 1969.<ref name="My Life" /> He was planning to attend law school in the U.S. and knew he might lose his deferment. Clinton tried unsuccessfully to obtain positions in the [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] and the [[Air Force Officer Training School|Air Force officer candidate school]], and he then made arrangements to join the [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps]] (ROTC) program at the [[University of Arkansas]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Steven M. Gillon|title=The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-U2IzI2r5YC|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-532278-1|page=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Mikkelson|first=David|date=January 6, 2003|title=Was Bill Clinton a 'Felonious Draft Dodger'?|url= https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/clinton-draft-pardon/|access-date=January 31, 2021|agency=Snopes}}</ref>

He subsequently decided not to join the ROTC, saying in a letter to the officer in charge of the program that he opposed the war, but did not think it was honorable to use ROTC, National Guard, or Reserve service to avoid serving in Vietnam. He further stated that because he opposed the war, he would not volunteer to serve in uniform, but would subject himself to the draft, and would serve if selected only as a way "to maintain my political viability within the system".<ref>{{cite news | first=Bill | last=Clinton | agency=The Associated Press | title=The 1992 Campaign; A Letter By Clinton On His Draft Deferment: 'A War I Opposed And Despised' | work=The New York Times | date=February 13, 1992 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/13/us/1992-campaign-letter-clinton-his-draft-deferment-war-opposed-despised.html | access-date=July 30, 2019}}</ref> Clinton registered for the draft and received a high number (311), meaning that those whose birthdays had been drawn as numbers{{nbsp}}1 to 310 would be [[Draft lottery (1969)|drafted]] before him, making it unlikely he would be called up. (In fact, the highest number drafted was 195.)<ref>{{cite news |last=Lauter |first=David |date=February 13, 1992 |title=Clinton Releases '69 Letter on ROTC and Draft Status |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-13-mn-2993-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles}}</ref> [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] Eugene Holmes, the Army officer involved with Clinton's ROTC application, issued a [[notarize]]d statement during the 1992 presidential campaign stating that he suspected Clinton attempted to manipulate the situation to avoid the draft.<ref name="Morris1999">{{cite book | last=Morris | first=Roger | title=Partners in Power: The Clintons and Their America | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vq96BQV5lF4C&pg=PA100| date=April 25, 1999 | publisher=Regnery Publishing | isbn=978-0-89526-302-5 | page=100}}</ref>

During the 1992 campaign, it was revealed that Clinton's uncle had attempted to secure him a position in the [[United States Navy Reserve|Navy Reserve]], which would have prevented him from being deployed to Vietnam. This effort was unsuccessful and Clinton said in 1992 that he had been unaware of it until then.<ref>{{cite news | url =http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/democrat/clinton/skeletons/draft.shtml | title = Clinton's Draft Deferment | work=CNN |year= 1997 | access-date = June 19, 2014 }}</ref> Although legal, Clinton's actions with respect to the draft and deciding whether to serve in the military were criticized during his first presidential campaign by conservatives and some Vietnam veterans, some of whom charged that he had used Fulbright's influence to avoid military service.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/clinton/etc/draftletter.html | title=Bill Clinton's Draft Letter | work=[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]] | publisher=PBS | date=November 23, 1991 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last=Frammolino | first=Ralph | url =https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-06-mn-447-story.html | title = ROTC Officer Unaware of Draft Notice: Clinton: The man whose action kept the future governor in school says he was not told of 1969 induction letter. Draft board insists none was sent | work=Los Angeles Times | date=April 6, 1992 | access-date = January 6, 2013 }}</ref> Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, [[James Carville]], successfully argued that Clinton's letter in which he declined to join the ROTC should be made public, insisting that voters, many of whom had also opposed the Vietnam War, would understand and appreciate his position.<ref>Public Broadcasting System, [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/clinton/interviews/carville.html Frontline: Interview with James Carville], 2000.</ref>

===Law school===
After Oxford, Clinton attended Yale Law School and earned a [[Juris Doctor]] (J.D.) degree in 1973.<ref name="First in His Class" /> In 1971, he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham, in the [[Lillian Goldman Law Library|Yale Law Library]]; she was a class year ahead of him.<ref name="HRCBio">{{cite web | url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/about/first-ladies/hillaryclinton | work=[[whitehouse.gov]] | title=Hillary Rodham Clinton | via=[[NARA|National Archives]] | access-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref> They began dating and were soon inseparable. After only about a month, Clinton postponed his summer plans to be a coordinator for the [[George McGovern]] [[George McGovern presidential campaign, 1972|campaign]] for the [[1972 United States presidential election]] to move in with her in California.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.nysun.com/national/clintons-berkeley-summer-of-love/66982 | title=The Clintons' Berkeley Summer of Love | first=Josh | last=Gerstein | work=The New York Sun | date=November 26, 2007 | access-date=May 9, 2009}}</ref> The couple continued [[cohabitating|living together]] in New Haven when they returned to law school.<ref name="nys-rad">{{Cite news |url=http://www.nysun.com/national/hillary-clintons-radical-summer/66933/ |title=Hillary Clinton's Radical Summer |first=Josh | last=Gerstein |work=The New York Sun |date=November 26, 2007}}</ref>

Clinton eventually [[1972 United States presidential election in Texas#McGovern campaign|moved to Texas with Rodham in 1972]] to take a job leading McGovern's effort there. He spent considerable time in [[Dallas]], at the campaign's local headquarters on Lemmon Avenue, where he had an office. Clinton worked with future two-term [[List of mayors of Dallas|mayor of Dallas]] [[Ron Kirk]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Medley|first1=Jasmine|title=William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center and the Clinton School of Public Service|date=July 20, 2013|url=http://nasje.org/william-jefferson-clinton-presidential-center-and-the-clinton-school-of-public-service/|publisher=National Association of State Judicial Educators|access-date=November 22, 2016|archive-date=March 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305132811/https://nasje.org/william-jefferson-clinton-presidential-center-and-the-clinton-school-of-public-service/|url-status=dead}}</ref> future [[List of governors of Texas|governor of Texas]] [[Ann Richards]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Slater|first1=Wayne|title=Texas stumping in '72 helped shape Clinton's campaign|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2016/03/01/from-the-archives-lone-star-stumping-gig-in-72-race-helped-shape-hillary-clintons-08-bid |newspaper=Dallas Morning News |date=December 16, 2007 |access-date=November 22, 2016}}</ref> and then unknown television director and filmmaker [[Steven Spielberg]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Felsenthal|first1=Carol|title=George McGovern and Bill Clinton: the State of the Friendship|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-felsenthal/george-mcgovern-and-bill_b_98845.html  |work=The Huffington Post |date=May 7, 2008 |access-date=November 22, 2016}}</ref>

==Failed congressional campaign and tenure as Attorney General of Arkansas==
{{Further|Electoral history of Bill Clinton}}

After graduating from [[Yale Law School]], Clinton returned to Arkansas and became a law professor at the [[University of Arkansas]]. In 1974, he ran for the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. Running in the conservative [[Arkansas's 3rd congressional district|3rd district]] against incumbent Republican [[John Paul Hammerschmidt]], Clinton's campaign was bolstered by the anti-Republican and anti-incumbent mood resulting from the [[Watergate scandal]]. Hammerschmidt, who had received 77 percent of the vote in 1972, defeated Clinton by only a 52&nbsp;percent to 48&nbsp;percent margin. In 1976, Clinton ran for [[Arkansas Attorney General|Arkansas attorney general]]. Defeating the secretary of state and the deputy attorney general in the Democratic primary, Clinton was elected with no opposition in the general election, as no Republican had run for the office.<ref name=AllPolitics1>{{cite news|url=http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/democrat/clinton/political.career.shtml |work=CNN|title=Bill Clinton Political Career |year=1997 |access-date=August 30, 2011 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020920104113/http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/democrat/clinton/political.career.shtml |archive-date=September 20, 2002 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="First in His Class" />

==Governor of Arkansas (1979–1981, 1983–1992)==
{{Main|Governorships of Bill Clinton}}

[[File:Bill Clinton 1978.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton meets with President [[Jimmy Carter]], 1978.]]

In 1978, Clinton entered the Arkansas gubernatorial primary. At just 31 years old, he was one of the youngest gubernatorial candidates in the state's history. Clinton was elected [[Governor of Arkansas]] in [[1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election|1978]], having defeated the Republican candidate [[Lynn Lowe]], a farmer from [[Texarkana, Arkansas|Texarkana]]. Clinton was only 32 years old when he took office, the youngest governor in the country at the time and the second youngest governor in the history of Arkansas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=95|title=Bill Clinton (1946–) |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |access-date=September 15, 2018}}</ref> Due to his youthful appearance, Clinton was often called the "Boy Governor".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/opinion/12wed4.html | title=Bill and Hillary Clinton's Pitch in Iowa: 'I Love the '90s' | newspaper=The New York Times | first=Adam | last=Cohen | date=December 12, 2007 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Boy Clinton: The Political Biography | author=R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. | publisher=Eagle Publishing | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLSJ5oJG3fcC&pg=PA236| isbn=978-0-89526-439-8 | year=1996|page=236}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/27/us/little-rock-hopes-clinton-presidency-will-put-its-dogpatch-image-to-rest.html | title=Little Rock Hopes Clinton Presidency Will Put Its Dogpatch Image to Rest | first=Michael | last=Kelly | work=The New York Times | date=November 27, 1992 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> He worked on educational reform and directed the maintenance of Arkansas's roads, with wife Hillary leading a successful committee on urban health care reform. However, his term included an unpopular motor vehicle tax and citizens' anger over the escape of Cuban refugees (from the [[Mariel boatlift]]) detained in [[Fort Chaffee]] in 1980. Monroe Schwarzlose, of [[Kingsland, Arkansas|Kingsland]] in [[Cleveland County, Arkansas|Cleveland County]], polled 31&nbsp;percent of the vote against Clinton in the Democratic gubernatorial primary of 1980. Some suggested Schwarzlose's unexpected voter turnout foreshadowed Clinton's defeat by Republican challenger [[Frank D. White]] in the general election that year. As Clinton once joked, he was the youngest ex-governor in the nation's history.<ref name="First in His Class" />

After leaving office in January 1981, Clinton joined friend [[Bruce Lindsey]]'s Little Rock law firm of Wright, Lindsey and Jennings.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bill Clinton Timeline |author=Jonathan W. Nicholsen |url=http://www.timeline-help.com/bill-clinton-timeline.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123110248/http://www.timeline-help.com/bill-clinton-timeline.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 23, 2008 |publisher=Timeline Help |access-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref> In 1982, he was elected governor a second time and kept the office for ten years. Effective with the 1986 election, Arkansas had changed its gubernatorial term of office from two to four years. During his term, he helped transform Arkansas's economy and improved the state's educational system.<ref name=pendleton /> For [[senior citizen]]s, he removed the [[sales tax]] from medications and increased the home property-tax exemption.<ref name="The Natural" /> He became a leading figure among the [[New Democrats (United States)|New Democrats]], a group of [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] who advocated welfare reform, smaller government, and other policies not supported by liberals. Formally organized as the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] (DLC), the New Democrats argued that in light of President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[1984 United States presidential election|landslide victory in 1984]], the Democratic Party needed to adopt a more centrist political stance in order to succeed at the national level.<ref name="The Natural">{{Cite book | last=Klein | first=Joe | title=The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton | url=https://archive.org/details/naturalmisunders00klei| url-access=registration | publisher=Doubleday | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-7679-1412-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=127&subid=173&contentid=252794 |title=Bill Clinton, New Democrat |publisher=DLC |date=July 25, 2004 |access-date=August 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309143615/http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=127&subid=173&contentid=252794 |archive-date=March 9, 2012 }}</ref> Clinton delivered the [[Democratic response to the State of the Union address|Democratic response]] to Reagan's [[1985 State of the Union Address]] and served as chair of the [[National Governors Association]] from 1986 to 1987, bringing him to an audience beyond Arkansas.<ref name="First in His Class" />
[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan with Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton walking in the Cross Hall (cropped).jpg|thumb|Governor and [[Mrs. Clinton]] attend the Dinner Honoring the Nation's Governors in the White House with President Ronald Reagan and first lady [[Nancy Reagan]], 1987.]]
In the early 1980s, Clinton made reform of the Arkansas education system a top priority of his gubernatorial administration. The Arkansas Education Standards Committee was chaired by Clinton's wife Hillary, who was also an attorney as well as the chair of the [[Legal Services Corporation]]. The committee transformed Arkansas's education system. Proposed reforms included more spending for schools (supported by a sales-tax increase), better opportunities for gifted children, vocational education, higher teachers' salaries, more course variety, and compulsory teacher competency exams. The reforms passed in September 1983 after Clinton called a special [[Arkansas General Assembly|legislative session]]—the longest in Arkansas history.<ref name=pendleton>{{cite news|last1=Pendleton|first1=Scott | title=Governor Gets High Marks for Public Education Reforms | url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0721/21062.html | work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] | date=July 21, 1992}}</ref> Many have considered this the greatest achievement of the Clinton governorship.<ref name="First in His Class" /><ref name="The Natural" /> He defeated four Republican candidates for governor: Lowe (1978), White (1982 and 1986), [[Jonesboro, Arkansas|Jonesboro]] businessmen [[Woody Freeman]] (1984), and [[Sheffield Nelson]] of Little Rock (1990).<ref name=AllPolitics1 />

Also in the 1980s, the Clintons' personal and business affairs included transactions that became the basis of the [[Whitewater controversy]] investigation, which later dogged his presidential administration.<ref name="Clinton Wars">{{Cite book | last=Blumenthal | first=Sidney | title=The Clinton Wars | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | edition=1st | year=2003 | isbn= 978-0-374-12502-8}}</ref> After extensive investigation over several years, no indictments were made against the Clintons related to the years in Arkansas.<ref name="First in His Class" /><ref name="The Survivor">{{Cite book | last= Harris | first=John F. | title=The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House | publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks | year=2006 | edition=1st | isbn= 978-0-375-76084-6}}</ref>

According to some sources, Clinton was a [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty]] opponent in his early years, but he eventually switched positions.<ref name="mbsrgd" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=bill_clintons_death_penalty_waffle_ | title=Bill Clinton's Death Penalty Waffle—and Why It's Good News for Execution's Foes | first=Alexander | last=Nguyen | date=July 14, 2000 | work=[[The American Prospect]] | access-date=August 30, 2010 | quote=In his early days, Clinton opposed the death penalty. And while he and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton were both teaching at the University of Arkansas Law School, she wrote an appellate brief that helped save a mentally retarded man from execution. "Clinton was against the death penalty," says Arkansas attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, who, like Clinton, grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas. "He told me so." | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205011359/http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=bill_clintons_death_penalty_waffle_ | archive-date=December 5, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref> However he might have felt previously, by 1992, Clinton was insisting that Democrats "should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent".<ref name="Hartman2015">{{cite book|last=Hartman|first=Andrew|title=A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fW__BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|year=2015|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-25464-7|page=121}}</ref> During Clinton's final term as governor, [[Capital punishment in Arkansas|Arkansas performed its first executions]] since 1964 (the death penalty had been reinstated in 1976).<ref>{{cite web |title=Reinstatement of the Death Penalty |url=https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/reinstatement-of-the-death-penalty.html |website=Findlaw |access-date=November 24, 2022}}</ref> As governor, he oversaw the [[List of people executed in Arkansas|first four executions carried out]] by the state of Arkansas since the death penalty was reinstated there in 1976: one by [[electric chair]] and three by [[lethal injection]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/execution-database?filters%5Bstate%5D=Arkansas|title=Execution Database &#124; Death Penalty Information Center|work=[[Death Penalty Information Center]]|access-date=January 25, 2020}}</ref> To draw attention to his stance on capital punishment, Clinton flew home to Arkansas mid-campaign in 1992, in order to affirm in person that the controversial execution of [[Ricky Ray Rector]] would go forward as scheduled.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Applebome |first1=Peter |title=The 1992 Campaign: Death Penalty; Arkansas Execution Raises Questions on Governor's Politics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/25/us/1992-campaign-death-penalty-arkansas-execution-raises-questions-governor-s.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 24, 2022 |date=January 25, 1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Soss|first1=Joe|last2=Langbein|first2=Laura|last3=Metelko|first3=Alan R.|title=Why Do White Americans Support the Death Penalty?|journal=The Journal of Politics|date=September 27, 2001|volume=65|issue=2|page=399|doi=10.1111/1468-2508.t01-2-00006|s2cid=38112237|issn=0022-3816 }}</ref>

=== Scandals and allegations ===
During his time as governor in the 1980s, Arkansas was the center of a drug smuggling operation through [[Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport|Mena Airport]]. [[CIA]] agent [[Barry Seal]] allegedly imported three to five billion dollars' worth of [[cocaine]] through the airport, and the operation was linked to the [[Iran–Contra affair]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/mena-intermountain-municipal-airport-4070/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref> Clinton was accused of knowing about this operation, although nothing could be proven against him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrison |first=Micah |date=1994 |title=Mysterious Mena |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB833927551906129500 |website=Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-06-11 |title=What Was Clinton's Role In 'Mena Mystery!?' - Oakland Post {{!}} HighBeam Research |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2359062.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |archive-date=June 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611030940/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2359062.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Journalist [[Sam Smith (journalist)|Sam Smith]] tied him to various questionable business dealings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Sam |date=1998 |title=Arkansas Connections: A Time-line of the Clinton Years by Sam Smith |url=https://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/clinton/arkansas.htm |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=ontology.buffalo.edu}}</ref> Clinton was also accused by [[Gennifer Flowers]] to have used cocaine as governor<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=1999-08-24 |title=Aides: Clinton Never Used Coke - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aides-clinton-never-used-coke/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> and his half-brother Roger was sentenced to prison in 1985 for possession and smuggling of cocaine, but was later [[Bill Clinton pardon controversy|pardoned by his brother]] after serving his sentence.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Purdum |first=Todd S. |date=2001-02-23 |title=THE CLINTON PARDONS: THE BROTHERS; Siblings Who Often Emerge In an Unflattering Spotlight |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/23/us/clinton-pardons-brothers-siblings-who-often-emerge-unflattering-spotlight.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> During his time in Arkansas, there were also other scandals such as the [[Whitewater controversy]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Engelberg |first=Stephen |date=1994-03-13 |title=THE NATION; Untangling the Threads Of the Whitewater Affair |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/13/weekinreview/the-nation-untangling-the-threads-of-the-whitewater-affair.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> involving the Clintons' real estate dealings, and Bill Clinton was accused of serious sexual misconduct in Arkansas, including allegations of using the [[Arkansas State Police]] to gain access to women ([[Troopergate (Bill Clinton)|Troopergate affair]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clinton Tried To Derail Troopers' Sex Allegations |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/stories/pj122193.htm |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> The [[killing of Don Henry and Kevin Ives]] in 1987 started various [[Clinton body count conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] that accused Clinton and the Arkansas state authorities of covering up the crime.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weiss |first=Philip |date=1997-02-23 |title=Clinton Crazy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/23/magazine/clinton-crazy.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===1988 Democratic presidential primaries===
[[File:Bill Clinton 1986.jpg|thumb|upright|Clinton in 1986]]
In 1987, the media speculated that Clinton would enter the presidential race. Clinton decided to remain as Arkansas governor (following consideration for the potential candidacy of Hillary for governor, initially favored—but ultimately vetoed—by the First Lady).<ref name=autogenerated1>[[David Maraniss]], ''First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton'' (New York: Random House, 1996; {{ISBN|978-0-684-81890-0}}).</ref> For the nomination, Clinton endorsed [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts governor]] [[Michael Dukakis]]. He gave the nationally televised opening night address at the [[1988 Democratic National Convention]], but his speech, which was 33 minutes long and twice the length it was expected to be, was criticized for being too long.<ref>{{Cite magazine | last=Church | first=George J. | title=Cover: Is Bill Clinton For Real? | url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974739,00.html | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=January 27, 1992 | access-date=February 22, 2020 | archive-date=February 23, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223005832/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974739,00.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> Clinton presented himself both as a moderate and as a member of the New Democrat wing of the Democratic Party, and he headed the moderate Democratic Leadership Council in 1990 and 1991.<ref name="The Natural" /><ref name="The Choice">{{Cite book | last=Woodward | first=Bob | author-link=Bob Woodward | title=The Choice: How Bill Clinton Won | publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] | year=2005 | isbn= 978-0-7432-8514-8}}</ref>

==Presidential campaigns==
===1992 presidential candidacy===
{{Main|Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign|1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1992 United States presidential election}}

In the first primary contest, the [[Iowa caucuses|Iowa Caucus]], Clinton finished a distant third to Iowa senator [[Tom Harkin]]. During the campaign for the [[New Hampshire primary]], reports surfaced that Clinton had engaged in an extramarital affair with [[Gennifer Flowers]]. Clinton fell far behind former Massachusetts senator [[Paul Tsongas]] in the New Hampshire polls.<ref name="First in His Class" /> Following [[Super Bowl XXVI]], Clinton and his wife Hillary went on ''[[60 Minutes]]'' to rebuff the charges.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 27, 2021|title=The women of 'Impeachment' explained: Hillary Clinton and Bill's infidelity|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-10-27/impeachment-american-crime-story-hillary-clinton-edie-falco|access-date=October 30, 2021|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Their television appearance was a calculated risk, but Clinton regained several delegates. He finished second to Tsongas in the [[1992 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire primary]], but after trailing badly in the polls and coming within single digits of winning, the media viewed it as a victory. News outlets labeled him "The Comeback Kid" for earning a firm second-place finish.<ref>{{cite news |first=Amy |last=Herstek |url=https://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/11/clinton.nh/index.html |title=Clinton thanks New Hampshire for making him the 'Comeback Kid' |date=January 11, 2001 |agency=CNN|access-date=February 22, 2020 }}</ref>

Winning the big prizes of Florida and Texas and many of the [[Southern United States|Southern primaries]] on [[Super Tuesday]] gave Clinton a sizable delegate lead. However, former California governor [[Jerry Brown]] was scoring victories and Clinton had yet to win a significant contest outside his native South.<ref name="First in His Class" /><ref name="The Choice" /> With no major Southern state remaining, Clinton targeted New York, which had many delegates. He scored a resounding victory in New York City, shedding his image as a regional candidate.<ref name="The Choice" /> Having been transformed into the consensus candidate, he secured the Democratic Party nomination, finishing with a victory in Jerry Brown's home state of California.<ref name="First in His Class" />

During the campaign, questions of [[conflict of interest]] regarding state business and the politically powerful [[Rose Law Firm]], at which Hillary Rodham Clinton was a partner, arose. Clinton argued the questions were moot because all transactions with the state had been deducted before determining Hillary's firm pay.<ref>{{Cite news | last=Ifill | first=Gwen | title=Hillary Clinton Defends Her Conduct in Law Firm | work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/17/us/the-1992-campaign-hillary-clinton-defends-her-conduct-in-law-firm.html | date=March 17, 1992 | access-date=March 28, 2008}}</ref> Further concern arose when Bill Clinton announced that, with Hillary, voters would be getting two presidents "for the price of one".<ref>{{Cite news | last1=MacGillis | first1=Alec |last2=Kornblut |first2=Anne E. | title=Hillary Clinton Embraces Her Husband's Legacy | newspaper=The Washington Post | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/21/AR2007122102588.html | page=A1 | date=December 21, 2007 | access-date=March 28, 2008}}</ref>

Clinton was still the governor of Arkansas while campaigning for U.S. president, and he returned to his home state to see that [[Ricky Ray Rector]] would be executed. After killing a police officer and a civilian, Rector shot himself in the head, leading to what his lawyers said was a state where he could still talk but did not understand the idea of death. According to both Arkansas state law and federal law, a seriously mentally impaired inmate cannot be executed. The courts disagreed with the allegation of grave mental impairment and allowed the execution. Clinton's return to Arkansas for the execution was framed in an article for ''[[The New York Times]]'' as a possible political move to counter "soft on crime" accusations.<ref name="mbsrgd">[[George Stephanopoulos]], ''All Too Human: A Political Education'', 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-316-92919-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | last=Applebome | first=Peter | title=Arkansas Execution Raises Questions on Governor's Politics | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/25/us/1992-campaign-death-penalty-arkansas-execution-raises-questions-governor-s.html | work=The New York Times | date=January 25, 1992 | access-date=March 28, 2008}}</ref>
[[File:Second debate 3251.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton debating [[George H. W. Bush|Bush]] and [[Ross Perot|Perot]] on October 15, 1992]]
Bush's [[United States presidential approval rating|approval ratings]] were around 80&nbsp;percent during the [[Gulf War]], and he was described as unbeatable. When Bush compromised with Democrats to try to lower federal deficits, he reneged on his [[Read my lips: no new taxes|promise not to raise taxes]], which hurt his approval rating. Clinton repeatedly condemned Bush for making a promise he failed to keep.<ref name="The Choice" /> By election time, the economy was souring and Bush saw his approval rating plummet to just slightly over 40&nbsp;percent.<ref name="The Choice" /><ref>{{Cite news | title=How the Presidents Stack Up: A look at U.S. presidents' job-approval ratings | work=The Wall Street Journal | year=2006 | url=https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html | access-date=October 30, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081025015927/http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html| archive-date= October 25, 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> Finally, conservatives were previously united by anti-communism, but with the end of the Cold War, the party lacked a uniting issue. When [[Pat Buchanan]] and [[Pat Robertson]] addressed Christian themes at the [[1992 Republican National Convention|Republican National Convention]]—with Bush criticizing Democrats for omitting God from their platform—many moderates were alienated.<ref>{{cite web | last=Le Beau | first=Bryan | title=The Political Mobilization of the New Christian Right | date=December 10, 1998 | publisher=[[Creighton University]] | url=http://are.as.wvu.edu/lebeau1.htm | access-date=December 1, 2006 | archive-date=December 6, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206022453/http://are.as.wvu.edu/lebeau1.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> Clinton then pointed to his moderate, "New Democrat" record as Governor of Arkansas, though some on the more liberal side of the party remained suspicious.<ref>{{Cite news | last=Walker | first=Martin | title=Tough love child of Kennedy | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1992/jan/06/usa.martinwalker | location=London | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=January 6, 1992 |access-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref> Many Democrats who had supported Ronald Reagan and Bush in previous elections switched their support to Clinton.<ref name=BBConthisday>{{cite news | title=On this day (November 4) in 1992: Clinton beats Bush to the White House | work=BBC News | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_3659000/3659498.stm | date=November 4, 1992 | access-date=October 31, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081218141055/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_3659000/3659498.stm| archive-date= December 18, 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> Clinton and his running mate, [[Al Gore]], toured the country during the final weeks of the campaign, shoring up support and pledging a "new beginning".<ref name=BBConthisday />

On March 26, 1992, during a Democratic [[Fundraising|fund raiser]] of the presidential campaign, [[Robert Rafsky]] confronted then Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas and asked what he was going to do about [[AIDS]], to which Clinton replied, "I feel your pain".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.thinkprogress.org/the-future-of-gay-parents-on-television-378cc67a76b5/|title=The Future of Gay Parents On Television|work=ThinkProgress|first=Alyssa|last=Rosenberg|date=November 1, 2012}}</ref> The televised exchange led to AIDS becoming an issue in the 1992 presidential election. On April 4, then candidate Clinton met with members of [[ACT UP]] and other leading AIDS advocates to discuss his AIDS agenda and agreed to make a major AIDS policy speech, to have people with HIV speak to the [[Democratic National Convention|Democratic Convention]], and to sign onto the [[AIDS United]] Action five point plan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://actupny.org/campaign96/rafsky-clinton.html|title=The ACT UP Historical Archive: Bob Rafsky Confronts Candidate Bill Clinton, 1992|website=actupny.org}}</ref>

[[File:ElectoralCollege1992.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Results for the 1992 United States presidential election|1992 electoral vote results. Clinton won 370–168.]]
Clinton won the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 presidential election]] (370 electoral votes) against Republican incumbent George H. W. Bush (168 electoral votes) and billionaire [[populism|populist]] [[Ross Perot]] (zero electoral votes), who ran as an independent on a platform that focused on domestic issues. Bush's steep decline in public approval was a significant part of Clinton's success.<ref name=BBConthisday /> Clinton's victory in the election ended twelve years of Republican rule of the White House and twenty of the previous twenty-four years. The election gave Democrats full control of the [[United States Congress]],<ref name="whitehouse.gov bio" /> the first time one party controlled both the executive and legislative branches since Democrats held the [[96th United States Congress]] during the [[presidency of Jimmy Carter]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/partydiv.htm | title=Party Division in the Senate, 1789–present | publisher=United States Senate | access-date=August 30, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110718045714/https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/partydiv.htm| archive-date= July 18, 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://artandhistory.house.gov/house_history |title=House History |publisher=United States House of Representatives |access-date=August 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026183800/http://artandhistory.house.gov/house_history/ |archive-date=October 26, 2011 }}</ref>

According to [[Seymour Martin Lipset]], the 1992 election had several unique characteristics. Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they actually were, which harmed Bush. A rare event was the presence of a strong third-party candidate. Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House. The chief factor was Clinton's uniting his party, and winning over a number of heterogeneous groups.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lipset |first1=Seymour Martin |title=The Significance of the 1992 Election |journal=PS: Political Science and Politics |date=1993 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=7–16 |doi=10.2307/419496 |jstor=419496 |s2cid=227288247 }}</ref>

===1996 presidential candidacy===
{{Main|Bill Clinton 1996 presidential campaign|1996 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1996 United States presidential election}}

[[File:ElectoralCollege1996.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Results for the 1996 United States presidential election|1996 electoral vote results. Clinton won 379–159.]]
Leading up to the [[1996 United States presidential election|1996 presidential election]], Clinton's chances of being re-elected initially seemed slim, partially due to his growing untrust among the general public due to the [[Whitewater controversy]]<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dispatch-presidents-rating-rises/160801933/ President's rating rises]. [[Associated Press]]. March 29, 1994. Retrieved December 12, 2024.</ref><ref>Germond, Jack W., Witcover, Jules (February 6, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-clintons-beginning-to-look/160898377/ Clinton's beginning to look beatable, even to Democrats]. ''[[Daily Press (California)|Daily Press]]''. Retrieved December 14, 2024.</ref> and the lopsided defeat of national Democrats in the 1994 elections.<ref>Brown, Peter A. (November 9, 1994). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/casper-star-tribune-republicans-take-con/160487514/ Republicans take control of both houses of Congress]. ''[[Casper Star-Tribune]]''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref><ref>Beltrame, Julian (January 26, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen-can-comeback-kid-come/160487069/ Can Comeback Kid come back again?]. ''[[The Ottawa Citizen]]''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref> His [[approval rating]] got as low as 40 percent in early 1995, which led to several high-profile Democrats suggesting he drop out of the race.<ref>Cannon, Angie (January 23, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-star-new-chance-to-redefine/160898023/ New chance to redefine the presidency]. ''[[The Standard-Star]]''. Retrieved December 12, 2024.</ref><ref>Thompson, Robert E. (February 13, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-democrats-pon/160908989/ Democrats ponder presidential challenges]. ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]''. Retrieved December 14, 2024.</ref> However, in mid-1995, as a result of a rebounding economy and the growing unpopularity of congressional Republicans, public opinion of Clinton up-ticked<ref>Lewis, Kathy (April 26, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-pierce-tribune-clintons-empathy-ra/160490140/ Clinton's empathy raises approval rating]. ''[[Treasure Coast Newspapers|Fort Pierce Tribune]]''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-clinton-approval-over-50/160487794/ Clinton approval over 50% in two polls]. ''[[National Post]]''. May 17, 1995. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref><ref>Kondracke, Morton (December 2, 1995). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-facts-as-poll-ratings-climb-clinton/160506279/ As poll ratings climb, Clinton takes leadership role]. ''[[Brazosport Facts]]''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref> and early 1996 polls found he had a lead of up to 20 points over his likely Republican opponent [[Bob Dole]].<ref>Balz, Dan (March 27, 1996). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/saint-john-times-globe-dole-clinches-in/160490998/ Dole clinches in California]. ''Saint John Times Globe''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref>

Unlike Bush in the 1992 election, Clinton's incumbency greatly benefited him in the general election,<ref>Weeks, Linton (June 11, 2012). [https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2012/06/11/154745966/why-its-good-to-be-the-incumbent Why It's Good To Be The Incumbent]. ''[[NPR]]''. Retrieved December 10, 2024.</ref> as most Americans felt the country was going in the right direction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bob-dole-on-life-after-losing-the-1996-presidential-election/2012/09/28/eaef4102-f78e-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html|title=Bob Dole on life after losing the 1996 presidential election|first=Bob|last=Dole|date=September 30, 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Along with Dole, Clinton once again faced Ross Perot, who was nominated by the [[Reform Party of the United States of America|Reform Party]], but he garnered significantly less support than he did in the 1992 election.<ref>Kelly, John Michael (August 19, 1996). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-stuart-news-outside-parties-losing-s/160492328/ Outside parties losing steam]. ''The Stuart News''. Retrieved December 7, 2024.</ref> In the month leading up the election, pundits were predicting [[landslide victory|a big win]] for Clinton, as his approval rating saw a high of 60 percent<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-orlando-sentinel-clinton-leads-dole/160543498/ Clinton leads Dole in poll – approval rating reaches 60%]. ''[[Associated Press]]''. September 4, 1996. Retrieved December 8, 2024.</ref> and pollsters finding he was favored with voters in over 30 states.<ref>Raum, Tom (November 1, 1996). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-virginian-clinton-headed-toward/160666784/ Clinton headed toward a landslide?]. ''[[The News-Virginian]]''. Retrieved December 10, 2024.</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/syracuse-herald-journal-state-by-state/160665681/ State by state, it's Clinton]. ''[[Syracuse Herald-Journal]]''. November 1, 1996. Retrieved December 10, 2024.</ref><ref>Apple Jr., R.W. (October 25, 1996). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-press-democrat-perot-gambit-no-help/160667844/ Perot gambit no help for desperate Dole]. ''[[The Press Democrat]]''. Retrieved December 10, 2024.</ref>

On election day, Clinton won 379 [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral votes]], securing reelection and defeating Dole, who received 159 electoral votes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Defines a Landslide Victory in Politics? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-a-landslide-election-3367585 |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref> Clinton garnered 49.2 percent of the popular vote to Dole's 40.7 percent and Perot's 8.4 percent. With his victory, he became the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 6, 1996|title=Clinton Rides Landslide First Democrat To Be Re-Elected Since Roosevelt|work=[[The Spokesman-Review]]|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/nov/06/clinton-rides-landslide-first-democrat-to-be-re/|access-date=August 14, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Clinton@2">{{Cite book | last=Jones | first=Charles O. | title=The Presidency in a Separated System | url=https://archive.org/details/presidencysepara00jone | url-access=limited | publisher=[[The Brookings Institution]] | year=2005 | page=[https://archive.org/details/presidencysepara00jone/page/n336 318]}}</ref>

==Presidency (1993–2001)==
{{Main|Presidency of Bill Clinton}}

{{for timeline|Timeline of the Bill Clinton presidency}}{{New Democrats}}{{Neoliberalism sidebar}}
Clinton's "[[Third Way#United States|third way]]" of moderate liberalism built up the nation's fiscal health and put the nation on a firm footing abroad amid globalization and the development of anti-American terrorist organizations.<ref>David Palmer, "'What Might Have Been'--Bill Clinton and American Political Power." ''Australasian Journal of American Studies'' (2005): 38–58.</ref>

During his presidency, [[Presidency of Bill Clinton#Legislation and programs|Clinton advocated for a wide variety of legislation and programs]], most of which were enacted into law or implemented by the executive branch. His policies, particularly the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] and [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|welfare reform]], have been attributed to a [[centrism|centrist]] [[Third Way]] philosophy of governance.<ref>{{cite news | last=Safire | first=William | author-link=William Safire | title=Essay; Looking Beyond Peace | work=The New York Times | date=December 6, 1993 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/06/opinion/essay-looking-beyond-peace.html | access-date=October 29, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Duffy |first1=Michael |last2=Barrett |first2=Laurence I. |last3=Blackman |first3=Ann |last4=Carney |first4=James |title=Secrets Of Success |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=November 29, 1993 |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979697,00.html |access-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-date=February 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223022725/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979697,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> His policy of [[fiscal conservatism]] helped to reduce deficits on budgetary matters.<ref name=wp070914>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091402451.html | title=Greenspan Is Critical Of Bush in Memoir | first=Bob | last=Woodward | author-link=Bob Woodward | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=September 15, 2007 | access-date=January 9, 2014}}</ref><ref name=bbc010115>{{cite news | author=Steve Schifferes | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1110165.stm | title=Bill Clinton's economic legacy | work=[[BBC News]] | date=January 15, 2001 | access-date=January 9, 2014}}</ref> Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/02/AR2008020202521.html | title=Bill Clinton's Legacy | first=Peter| last=Baker| newspaper=The Washington Post | date=February 3, 2008 | access-date=July 13, 2010}}</ref><ref name=NYTExpansion>{{cite news| title=The Battle of the Decades; Reaganomics vs. Clintonomics Is a Central Issue in 2000| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/08/business/the-battle-of-the-decades-reaganomics-vs-clintonomics-is-a-central-issue-in-2000.html| last=Stevenson| first=Richard| newspaper=The New York Times| date=February 8, 2000| access-date=March 15, 2011}}</ref>

The [[Congressional Budget Office]] reported budget surpluses of $69&nbsp;billion in 1998, $126&nbsp;billion in 1999, and $236&nbsp;billion in 2000,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43904 |title=Revenues, Outlays, Deficits, Surpluses, and Debt Held by the Public, 1968 to 2007, in Billions of Dollars |publisher=Congressional Budget Office |date=September 2008 |format=PDF |access-date=July 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208082112/http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43904 |archive-date=February 8, 2013 }}</ref> during the last three years of Clinton's presidency.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-and-deficit-under-clinton | title=The Budget and Deficit Under Clinton | publisher=FactCheck.org | access-date=August 17, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110728091132/http://factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-and-deficit-under-clinton/| archive-date=July 28, 2011 | url-status=live| date=February 3, 2008 }}</ref> Over the years of the recorded surplus, the gross national debt rose each year. At the end of the fiscal year (September 30) for each of the years a surplus was recorded, the U.S. Treasury reported a gross debt of $5.413&nbsp;trillion in 1997, $5.526&nbsp;trillion in 1998, $5.656&nbsp;trillion in 1999, and $5.674&nbsp;trillion in 2000.<ref>{{cite web | title=Historical Debt Outstanding—Annual 1950–1999 | url=https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo4.htm | publisher=[[TreasuryDirect]] | access-date=April 3, 2015 | archive-date=April 28, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428030645/https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo4.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Historical Debt Outstanding—Annual 2000–2015 | url=https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo5.htm | publisher=TreasuryDirect | access-date=October 31, 2016 | archive-date=May 8, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508122149/https://treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo5.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> Over the same period, the Office of Management and Budget reported an end of year (December 31) gross debt of $5.369&nbsp;trillion in 1997, $5.478&nbsp;trillion in 1998, $5.606 in 1999, and $5.629&nbsp;trillion in 2000.<ref>{{cite web | title=Fiscal Year 2013 Historical Tables | url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2013-TAB/pdf/BUDGET-2013-TAB.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2013-TAB/pdf/BUDGET-2013-TAB.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live | publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office]]}}</ref> At the end of his presidency, the Clintons moved to 15 Old House Lane in [[Chappaqua, New York]], in order to quell political worries about his wife's residency for election as a U.S. senator from New York.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nagourney |first=Adam |date=September 3, 1999 |title=With Some Help, Clintons Purchase a White House |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/03/nyregion/with-some-help-clintons-purchase-a-white-house.html |access-date=August 25, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===First term (1993–1997)===
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{{Quote box | width=25em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 | align=right | quote="Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." | source=Inaugural address, January 20, 1993.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/clinton1.asp | first=Bill | last=Clinton | title=First Inaugural Address of William J. Clinton; January 20, 1993 | publisher=[[Yale Law School]] | date=January 20, 1993 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref>}}
[[File:Dan Hadani collection (990040377410205171).jpg|thumb|alt=Clinton during the signing of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, with Yitzhak Rabin (left) and King Hussein of Jordan (right)|Clinton during the signing of the [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty]], with [[Yitzhak Rabin]] (left) and King [[Hussein of Jordan]] (right)]]
After [[Presidential transition of Bill Clinton|his presidential transition]], Clinton was [[First inauguration of Bill Clinton|inaugurated]] as the 42nd president of the United States on January 20, 1993. Clinton was physically exhausted at the time, and had an inexperienced staff. His high levels of public support dropped in the first few weeks, as he made a series of mistakes. His first choice for attorney general had not paid her taxes on babysitters and was forced to withdraw. The second appointee also withdrew for the same reason. Clinton had repeatedly promised to encourage gays in the military service, despite what he knew to be the strong opposition of the military leadership. He tried anyway, and was publicly opposed by the top generals, and forced by Congress to a compromise position of "[[Don't ask, don't tell]]" whereby homosexuals could serve if and only if they kept it secret.<ref>Elizabeth Drew, ''On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency'' (1994), pp. 36–56.</ref> He devised a $16-billion stimulus package primarily to aid inner-city programs desired by liberals, but it was defeated by a Republican filibuster in the Senate.<ref>Drew, pp 114–122.</ref> His popularity at the 100 day mark of his term was the lowest of any president at that point.<ref>Stanley A. Renshon, ed., ''The Clinton Presidency: Campaigning, Governing, and the Psychology of Leadership'' (1995), p. 138.</ref>

Public opinion did support one liberal program, and Clinton signed the [[Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993]], which required large employers to allow employees to take unpaid leave for pregnancy or a serious medical condition. This action had bipartisan support,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=103&session=1&vote=00011 | title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 103rd Congress—1st Session | publisher=United States Senate | access-date= August 30, 2011}}</ref> and was popular with the public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.protectfamilyleave.org/pdf/030608_ncpfl_fmla_national_survey.pdf |title=New Nationwide Poll Shows Strong Support for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) |publisher=Protect Family Leave |access-date=August 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227065806/http://www.protectfamilyleave.org/pdf/030608_ncpfl_fmla_national_survey.pdf |archive-date=December 27, 2011 }}</ref>

Two days after taking office, on January 22, 1993—the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''—Clinton reversed restrictions on domestic and international [[family planning]] programs that had been imposed by Reagan and Bush.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sharon L. Camp|chapter=The Politics of U.S. Population Assistance|title=Beyond the Numbers: A Reader on Population, Consumption and the Environment|editor=Laurie Ann Mazur|page=130}}</ref> Clinton said abortion should be kept "safe, legal, and rare"—a slogan that had been suggested by political scientist [[Samuel L. Popkin]] and first used by Clinton in December 1991, while campaigning.<ref>Amy Sullivan, ''The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats Are Closing the God Gap'' (Simon & Schuster: 2008), pp. 91–92.</ref> During the eight years of the Clinton administration, the abortion rate declined by 18 percent.<ref>Sullivan, ''The Party Faithful'', pp. 236–237.</ref>

On February 15, 1993, Clinton made his first address to the nation, announcing his plan to raise taxes to close a [[budget deficit]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/15/us/white-house-hones-all-out-campaign-to-sell-sacrifice.html | title=White House Hones All-Out Campaign to Sell Sacrifice | newspaper=The New York Times | date=February 15, 1993 | author=Richard L. Burke | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> Two days later, in a nationally televised address to a [[joint session of Congress]], Clinton unveiled his economic plan. The plan focused on reducing the deficit rather than on cutting taxes for the middle class, which had been high on his campaign agenda.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/clinton/cron/ | title=The Clinton Years: Chronology | work=[[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]] | access-date=June 13, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502012813/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/clinton/cron/| archive-date=May 2, 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> Clinton's advisers pressured him to raise taxes, based on the theory that a smaller federal budget deficit would reduce bond interest rates.<ref>{{cite book | last=Woodward | first=Bob | author-link=Bob Woodward | title=Maestro | url=https://archive.org/details/maestrogreenspan00wood | url-access=registration | publisher=Simon & Schuster | location=New York | year=2000 | page=[https://archive.org/details/maestrogreenspan00wood/page/116 116]}}</ref>

President Clinton's attorney general [[Janet Reno]] authorized the FBI's use of armored vehicles to deploy tear gas into the buildings of the Branch Davidian community near Waco, Texas, in hopes of ending a [[Waco siege|51 day siege]]. During the operation on April 19, 1993, the buildings caught fire and 75 of the residents died, including 24 children. The raid had originally been planned by the Bush administration; Clinton had played no role.<ref>Mollie Dickenson, "A Bipartisan Disaster" ''New York Times'' August 3, 1995, p. A25</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://theconversation.com/waco-the-siege-25-years-on-94324| author=Andrew Crome| title=Waco: the siege 25 years on| publisher=The Conversation| date=April 19, 2018}}</ref>

In August, Clinton signed the [[Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993]], which passed Congress without a Republican vote. It cut taxes for 15{{nbsp}}million low-income families, made tax cuts available to 90&nbsp;percent of small businesses,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/080393-presidential-press-conference-in-nevada.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927022455/http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/080393-presidential-press-conference-in-nevada.htm | archive-date=September 27, 2007 | title=Presidential Press Conference in Nevada | date=August 3, 1993 | first=Bill | last=Clinton}}</ref> and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2&nbsp;percent of taxpayers. Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over many years through the implementation of spending restraints.<ref>{{cite web | first=Bill | last=Clinton | url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/219941 | title=William J. Clinton: Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union | publisher=Presidency.ucsb.edu | date=January 25, 1994 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Bill Clinton Al Gore.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Clinton and Vice President [[Al Gore]] on the South Lawn, August 10, 1993]]

On September 22, 1993, Clinton made a major speech to Congress regarding [[Clinton health care plan of 1993|a health care reform plan]]; the program aimed at achieving universal coverage through a national health care plan. This was one of the most prominent items on Clinton's legislative agenda and resulted from a task force headed by Hillary Clinton. The plan was well received in political circles, but it was eventually doomed by well-organized lobby opposition from conservatives, the [[American Medical Association]], and the health insurance industry. However, Clinton biographer [[John F. Harris]] said the program failed because of a lack of coordination within the White House.<ref name="The Survivor" /> Despite the Democratic majority in Congress, the effort to create a national health care system ultimately died when compromise legislation by [[George J. Mitchell]] failed to gain a majority of support in August 1994. The failure of the bill was the first major legislative defeat of the Clinton administration.<ref name="The Natural" /><ref name="The Survivor" />

On November 30, 1993, Clinton signed into law the [[Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act|Brady Bill]], which mandated federal [[background check]]s on people who purchase firearms in the United States. The law also imposed a five-day waiting period on purchases, until the [[National Instant Criminal Background Check System|NICS system]] was implemented in 1998. He also expanded the [[Earned Income Tax Credit]], a subsidy for low-income workers.<ref name="The Survivor" />

In December of the same year, allegations by Arkansas state troopers [[Larry Patterson]] and Roger Perry were first reported by [[David Brock]] in ''[[The American Spectator]].'' In the affair later known as "[[Troopergate (Bill Clinton)|Troopergate]]", the officers alleged that they had arranged sexual liaisons for Clinton when he was Governor of Arkansas. The story mentioned a woman named ''Paula'', a reference to [[Paula Jones]]. Brock later apologized to Clinton, saying the article was politically motivated "bad journalism", and that "the troopers were greedy and had slimy motives".<ref name="apology">{{Cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/03/10/brocks.remorse | title=Reporter Apologizes For Clinton Sex Article | work=CNN | date=March 10, 1998 | first=Jonathan | last=Karl | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614124146/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/03/10/brocks.remorse/| archive-date=June 14, 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Bill Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat at the White House 1993-09-13.jpg|thumb|[[Yitzhak Rabin]], Clinton and [[Yasser Arafat]] during the [[Oslo Accords]] on September 13, 1993]]

That month, Clinton implemented a Department of Defense directive known as "[[Don't Ask, Don't Tell]]", which allowed gay men and women to serve in the armed services provided they kept their sexual orientation a secret. The Act forbade the military from inquiring about an individual's sexual orientation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Feder |first1=Jody | title="Don't Ask, Don't Tell": A Legal Analysis | publisher=DIANE Publishing | year=2010 | isbn=978-1-4379-2208-0}}</ref> The policy was developed as a compromise after Clinton's proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the military met staunch opposition from prominent congressional Republicans and Democrats, including senators [[John McCain]] (R-AZ) and [[Sam Nunn]] (D-GA). According to [[David Mixner]], Clinton's support for the compromise led to a heated dispute with Vice President Al Gore, who felt that "the President should lift the ban&nbsp;... even though [his executive order] was sure to be overridden by the Congress".<ref name="Mixner2009">{{cite book | last=Mixner | first=David | title=Stranger Among Friends | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Jeg2X025UgC| date=November 25, 2009 | publisher=Random House Publishing Group | isbn=978-0-307-42958-2 | pages=495–497}}</ref> Some gay-rights advocates criticized Clinton for not going far enough and accused him of making his campaign promise to get votes and contributions.<ref>{{cite news|title=Stranger Among Friends—book reviews |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_n11_v28/ai_18855826 |newspaper=[[Washington Monthly]] |first=John | last=Cloud |date=November 1996 |access-date=August 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826114431/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_n11_v28/ai_18855826/ |archive-date=August 26, 2011 }}</ref> Their position was that Clinton should have integrated the military by executive order, noting that President [[Harry S. Truman]] used executive order to racially desegregate the armed forces. Clinton's defenders argued that an executive order might have prompted the Senate to write the exclusion of gays into law, potentially making it harder to integrate the military in the future.<ref name="The Natural" /> Later in his presidency, in 1999, Clinton criticized the way the policy was implemented, saying he did not think any serious person could say it was not "out of whack".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://archives.cnn.com/1999/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/11/clinton.gays.military/index.html | title=President seeks better implementation of 'don't ask, don't tell' | date=December 11, 1999 | work=CNN | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> The policy remained controversial, and was finally [[Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010|repealed in 2011]], removing open sexual orientation as a reason for dismissal from the armed forces.<ref>{{cite news | title=Obama certifies end of military's gay ban | agency=[[Reuters]] | work=[[NBC News]] | date=July 22, 2011 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43859711 | access-date=September 7, 2011}}</ref>

{{listen
| title        = Remarks on the Signing of NAFTA (December 8, 1993)
| filename     = Remarks on the Signing of NAFTA (December 8, 1993) Bill Clinton.ogv
| description  = Clinton's December 8, 1993, remarks on the signing of the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]]
| title2       = Remarks on the Signing of NAFTA (December 8, 1993)
| filename2    = Remarks on the Signing of NAFTA (12-8-93, WJC).ogg
| description2 = audio only version
| image        = none
}}

On January 1, 1994, Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement into law.<ref name=NAFTA>{{cite journal |last1=Livingston |first1=C. Don |last2=Wink |first2=Kenneth A. |title=The Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the U.S. House of Representatives: Presidential Leadership or Presidential Luck? |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=1997 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=52–70 |id={{Gale|A19354304}} {{ProQuest|215685340}} |jstor=27551700 }}</ref> Throughout his first year in office, Clinton consistently supported ratification of the treaty by the U.S. Senate. Clinton and most of his allies in the Democratic Leadership Committee strongly supported free trade measures; there remained, however, strong disagreement within the party. Opposition came chiefly from anti-trade Republicans, protectionist Democrats and supporters of Ross Perot. The bill passed the house with 234 votes in favor and 200 votes opposed (132 Republicans and 102 Democrats in favor; 156 Democrats, 43 Republicans, and one independent opposed). The treaty was then ratified by the Senate and signed into law by the president.<ref name=NAFTA />

On July 29, 1994, the Clinton administration launched the first official White House website, [[whitehouse.gov]].<ref name=":1">{{cite news |title=The Clinton White House Web Site |publisher=[[About.com]] |url=http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa012201b.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=August 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722064216/http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa012201b.htm |archive-date=July 22, 2011}}</ref> The site was followed with three more versions, with the final version being launched on July 21, 2000.<ref name=":1" /> The White House website was part of a wider movement of the Clinton administration toward web-based communication. According to Robert Longley, "Clinton and Gore were responsible for pressing almost all federal agencies, the U.S. court system and the U.S. military onto the Internet, thus opening up America's government to more of America's citizens than ever before. On July 17, 1996, Clinton issued Executive Order 13011—Federal Information Technology, ordering the heads of all federal agencies to utilize information technology fully to make the information of the agency easily accessible to the public."<ref>{{cite web |last=Longley |first=Robert |title=The Clinton White House Web Site: Part 1: Perhaps the most important Web site in American history |url=http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa012201a.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118024833/http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa012201a.htm |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |access-date=June 6, 2007 |publisher=About.com}}</ref>

The [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act|Omnibus Crime Bill]], which Clinton signed into law in September 1994,<ref>{{cite web | title=HR 3355—Omnibus Crime Bill | url=https://votesmart.org/bill/2666/8428/omnibus-crime-bill | publisher=votesmart.org | access-date=September 12, 2015}}</ref> made many changes to U.S. crime and law enforcement legislation including the expansion of the death penalty to include crimes not resulting in death, such as running a large-scale drug enterprise. During Clinton's re-election campaign he said, "My 1994 crime bill expanded the death penalty for drug kingpins, murderers of federal law enforcement officers, and nearly 60 additional categories of violent felons."<ref>{{cite web|title=Bill Clinton |work=Kids Portal For Parents |date=February 25, 2015 |url=http://www.4to40.com/biographies-for-kids/bill-clinton/ |publisher=4to40.com |access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> It also included a subsection of [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban|assault weapons ban]] for a ten-year period.<ref>Jeffrey A. Roth and Christopher S. Koper, "Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban: 1994–96". U.S. Department of Justice/National Institute of Justice, ''Research in Brief'' (Mar. 1999); available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/173405.pdf</ref>

After two years of Democratic Party control, the Democrats lost control of Congress to the Republicans in the [[1994 United States House of Representatives elections|mid-term elections in 1994]], for the first time in forty years.<ref>{{cite web | last=Hulsey | first=Byron | title=The Altered Terrain of American Politics (Review of Do Elections Matter?) | url=http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1463 | date=November 27, 1997 | access-date=October 29, 2008}}</ref>

A speech delivered by President Bill Clinton at the December 6, 1995 [[White House Conference]] on HIV/AIDS projected that a cure for AIDS and a vaccine to prevent further infection would be developed. The President focused on his administration's accomplishments and efforts related to the [[epidemic]], including an accelerated drug-approval process. He also condemned [[homophobia]] and discrimination against people with [[HIV]]. Clinton announced three new initiatives: creating a special working group to coordinate AIDS research throughout the [[federal government]]; convening public health experts to develop an action plan that integrates HIV prevention with substance abuse prevention; and launching a new effort by the [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] to ensure that health care facilities provide equal access to people with HIV and AIDS.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Activists at gathering plead with Clinton to take the lead |journal=AIDS Policy & Law |date=December 29, 1995 |volume=10 |issue=22 |pages=1, 10 |pmid=11362952 }}</ref> 1996 would mark the first year since the beginning of the [[HIV/AIDS epidemic]] that the number of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses would decline, with the U.S. [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (CDC) even later reporting a significant 47% decline in the number of AIDS-related deaths in 1997 compared to the previous year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00049322.htm|title=Update: Trends in AIDS Incidence -- United States, 1996|publisher=Center for Disease Control|accessdate=September 16, 2024}}</ref><ref name=clintonhhs>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/10/08/aids-death-rate-in-97-down-47/6ca3a56d-2015-42fa-b4f4-0ffe2aa22d12/|title=AIDS Death Rate In '97 Down 47%|first=David|last=Brown|newspaper=Washington Post|date=October 7, 1998|accessdate=September 16, 2024}}</ref><ref name=responsetohivaids>{{cite news|url=https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/history/hiv-and-aids-timeline|title=A Timeline of HIV and AIDS|publisher=hiv.gov|access-date=September 16, 2024}}</ref> Credit for this decline would be given to the growing effectiveness of new drug therapy which was promoted by the Clinton Administration's Department of Health and Human Services, such as [[highly active antiretroviral therapy]] (HAART).<ref name=clintonhhs /><ref name=responsetohivaids />

[[File:Coat of Arms of Bill Clinton.svg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|Clinton's coat of arms, granted by the [[Chief Herald of Ireland]] in 1995]]

On September 21, 1996, Clinton signed into law the [[Defense of Marriage Act]] (DOMA), which defined marriage for federal purposes as the legal union of one man and one woman; the legislation allowed individual states to refuse to recognize gay marriages that were performed in other states.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-104publ199 | publisher=United States Government Printing Office | title=Public Law 104 - 199 - Defense of Marriage Act }}</ref> [[Paul Yandura]], speaking for the White House gay and lesbian liaison office, said Clinton's signing DOMA "was a political decision that they made at the time of a re-election". In defense of his actions, Clinton has said that DOMA was intended to "head off an attempt to send a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the states", a possibility he described as highly likely in the context of a "very reactionary Congress".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/bill-clinton-doma-2012-3/ | work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] | first=Frank | last=Rich | title=Bill Clinton's shifting justifications for signing the Defense of Marriage Act | date=February 26, 2012}}</ref> Administration spokesman [[Richard Socarides]] said, "the alternatives we knew were going to be far worse, and it was time to move on and get the president re-elected."<ref name="metroweekly">{{cite news | url=https://www.metroweekly.com/2011/09/becoming-law/ | work=[[Metro Weekly]] | first=Chris | last=Geidner | title=Becoming Law | date=September 29, 2011}}</ref> Clinton himself said DOMA was something "which the Republicans put on the ballot to try to get the base vote for Bush up, I think it's obvious that something had to be done to try to keep the Republican Congress from presenting that";<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/bill-clinton-doma-2012-3/ | title=Bill Clinton's Justifications for Signing DOMA—New York Magazine | work=New York | date=February 24, 2012 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> others were more critical. The veteran gay rights and gay marriage activist [[Evan Wolfson]] has called these claims "historic revisionism".<ref name="metroweekly" /> Despite this, it has been noted that other than a brief written response to a Reader's Digest that questioned whether he agreed with it, Clinton had made no documented reference to the issue of gay marriage until May 1996.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/09/18/doma-anniversary-bill-clinton-book-excerpt-512686|title=Bill Clinton Tried to Avoid the DOMA Trap Republicans Set. Instead, He Trapped Himself.|first=Sasha|last=Issenberg|publisher=Politico|date=September 18, 2021|accessdate=November 29, 2022}}</ref> In a July 2, 2011, editorial ''The New York Times'' opined, "The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996 as an election-year wedge issue, signed by President Bill Clinton in one of his worst policy moments."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/opinion/sunday/03sun1.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/opinion/sunday/03sun1.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited | work=The New York Times | title=Unfinished Business: The Defense of Marriage Act | date=July 2, 2011 | department=Editorial}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Ultimately, in ''[[United States v. Windsor]]'', the U.S. Supreme Court struck down DOMA in June 2013.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-the-court-ruled-on-doma-and-prop-8 | title=How The Court Ruled on DOMA and Prop. 8 | first=Richard | last=Socarides | date=June 26, 2013 | magazine=[[The New Yorker]] | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref>

Despite DOMA, Clinton was the first president to select openly gay persons for administrative positions,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/ac399.html | title=ClintonGore Accomplishments: Gay and Lesbian Americans | publisher=Clinton2.nara.gov | access-date=September 12, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319132707/http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/ac399.html | archive-date=March 19, 2013 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> and he is generally credited as being the first president to publicly champion gay rights.<ref name="newyorker.com">{{cite magazine | last=Socarides | first=Richard | url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-bill-clinton-signed-the-defense-of-marriage-act | title=Why Bill Clinton Signed the Defense of Marriage Act | magazine=The New Yorker | date=March 8, 2013 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> During his presidency, Clinton issued two substantially controversial executive orders on behalf of gay rights, the first lifting the ban on security clearances for LGBT federal employees<ref>Volsky, Igor. (August 5, 1995) [http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/08/05/288942/clinton-issued-order-letting-gays-get-security-clearances-16-years-ago-today/?mobile=nc Clinton Issued Order Letting Gays Get Security Clearances 16 Years Ago Today] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326175219/http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/08/05/288942/clinton-issued-order-letting-gays-get-security-clearances-16-years-ago-today/?mobile=nc |date=March 26, 2014 }}</ref> and the second outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal civilian workforce.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/29/us/clinton-grants-gay-workers-job-protection.html | title=Clinton Grants Gay Workers Job Protection | work=The New York Times | date=May 29, 1998 | access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref> Under Clinton's leadership, federal funding for HIV/AIDS research, prevention and treatment more than doubled.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/2000pres/00fsaids.html | title=2000.12.01: (Fact Sheet) Clinton Administration Record on HIV/AIDS | publisher=Archive.hhs.gov | access-date=September 12, 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930185839/http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/2000pres/00fsaids.html | archive-date=September 30, 2013 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> Clinton also pushed for passing hate crimes laws for gays and for the private sector [[Employment Non-Discrimination Act]], which, buoyed by his lobbying, failed to pass the Senate by a single vote in 1996.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/104-1996/s281 | title=S. 2056 (104th): Employment Nondiscrimination Act of 1996 (On Passage of the Bill) | publisher=Govtrack.us | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> Advocacy for these issues, paired with the politically unpopular nature of the gay rights movement at the time, led to enthusiastic support for Clinton's election and reelection by the [[Human Rights Campaign]].<ref name="newyorker.com" /> Clinton came out for gay marriage in July 2009<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/bill-clinton-backs-same-sex-marriage/ | title=Bill Clinton Backs Same-Sex Marriage | magazine=[[The Nation]] | date=July 14, 2009 | access-date=February 22, 2020| last1=Tracey | first1=Michael }}</ref> and urged the Supreme Court to overturn DOMA in 2013.<ref>{{cite news | last=Clinton | first=Bill | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bill-clinton-its-time-to-overturn-doma/2013/03/07/fc184408-8747-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html | title=It's time to overturn DOMA | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=March 7, 2013 | access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref> He was later honored by [[GLAAD]] for his prior pro-gay stances and his reversal on DOMA.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/glaad-honours-bill-clinton-2013042206 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316145733/http://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/glaad-honours-bill-clinton-2013042206 | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 16, 2016 | work=[[3 News NZ]] | title=GLAAD honours Bill Clinton| date=April 22, 2013}}</ref>

{{Quote box
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| quote = "When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard of what is called the Worldwide Web&nbsp;... Now even [[Socks (cat)|my cat]] has its own page."
| source = Bill Clinton's announcement of [[Next Generation Internet Program|Next Generation Internet initiative]], October 1996.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gromov |first=Gregory |url=https://www.netvalley.com/ |title=A New Home for the Mind |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720213401/http://www.netvalley.com/ |archive-date=July 20, 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=June 3, 2025 }}</ref>
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The [[1996 United States campaign finance controversy]] was an alleged effort by [[China]] to influence the domestic policies of the United States, before and during the Clinton administration, and involved the fundraising practices of the administration itself.<ref name="wsjchinagate">{{cite news |title=China Was Bill Clinton's Russia |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-was-bill-clintons-russia-1488585526 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Not All Foreign-Influence Scandals Are Created Equal |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/07/chinese-illegally-donated-bill-clinton-reelection-campaign-media-downplayed/ |work=[[National Review]] |date=July 16, 2017}}</ref> Despite the evidence,<ref name="wsjchinagate"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Findings Link Clinton Allies to Chinese Intelligence |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/02/10/findings-link-clinton-allies-to-chinese-intelligence/87265d5d-7452-41f2-ad2f-aa4abe7e579e/?noredirect=on |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Bob |last=Woodward |author-link=Bob Woodward |date=February 10, 1998 }}</ref> the [[Government of China|Chinese government]] denied all accusations.<ref name=embassy>{{cite news |first1=Bob |last1=Woodward |first2=Brian |last2=Duffy |author-link1=Bob Woodward |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/china1.htm |title=Chinese Embassy Role In Contributions Probed |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 13, 1997 |access-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref>

As part of a 1996 initiative to curb [[Illegal immigration to the United States|illegal immigration]], Clinton signed the [[Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996|Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act]] (IIRIRA) on September 30, 1996. Appointed by Clinton,<ref>{{cite news |first=Louis |last=Freedberg |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PAGE-ONE-WASHINGTON-New-Limits-In-Works-on-3031581.php |title=New Limits In Works on Immigration / Powerful commission focusing on families of legal entrants |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=June 2, 1995 |access-date=February 22, 2020 }}</ref> the [[History of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United States#1990s|U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform]] recommended reducing legal immigration from about 800,000 people a year to about 550,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Plummer Alston Jr. |date=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmSKvXN2a1IC&pg=PA153 |title=Still Struggling for Equality: American public library services with minorities |publisher=Libraries Unlimited |page=154 |isbn=978-1-59158-243-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/08/us/clinton-embraces-a-proposal-to-cut-immigration-by-a-third.html |title=Clinton Embraces a Proposal To Cut Immigration by a Third |first=Robert |last=Pear |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 8, 1995 |access-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref>

In November 1996, Clinton narrowly escaped possible assassination in the Philippines,<ref name="youtube.com">{{cite AV media |last1=Discovery TV |title=Clinton Assassination Attempt—Secret Service Secrets |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvhldq-OHK0 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220083137/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvhldq-OHK0 |archive-date=February 20, 2015 |via=YouTube |access-date=March 29, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> which was a bridge bomb planted by [[al-Qaeda]] and was masterminded by [[Osama bin Laden]]. During Clinton's presidency, the attempt remained top secret,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gormley |first1=Ken | title=The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr | date=February 1, 2011 | publisher=Crown Publishing Group | isbn=978-0-307-40945-4 | page=800}}</ref> and it remains classified {{As of|2024|03|lc=yes|post=,}} when [[Reuters]] reported having spoken with eight retired secret service agents about the incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/al-qaeda-plot-kill-bill-clinton-that-history-nearly-forgot-2024-03-23/ |title=The al Qaeda plot to kill Bill Clinton that history nearly forgot |first=Jonathan |last=Landay |work=[[Reuters]] |date=2024-03-23 |access-date=2024-03-24 }}</ref>

===Second term (1997–2001)===
[[File:G8 Summit 1997 Family photo (cropped).jpg|thumb|250px|Clinton (center) with other world leaders attending the first [[G8 Summit]], 1997]]
In the January 1997 State of the Union address, Clinton proposed a new initiative to provide health coverage to up to five million children. Senators [[Ted Kennedy]]—a Democrat—and [[Orrin Hatch]]—a Republican—teamed up with Hillary Rodham Clinton and her staff in 1997 and succeeded in passing legislation forming the [[State Children's Health Insurance Program]] (SCHIP), the largest successful health care reform in the Clinton Administration. That year, Hillary Clinton shepherded through Congress the [[Adoption and Safe Families Act]] and two years later she succeeded in helping pass the [[Foster Care Independence Act]]. Bill Clinton negotiated the passage of the [[Balanced Budget Act of 1997]] by the Republican Congress.

In October 1997, Clinton announced he was getting hearing aids, due to hearing loss attributed to his age, and his time spent as a musician in his youth.<ref>{{cite news | last=Shogren | first=Elizabeth | title=Clinton to Get Hearing Aids for Both Ears | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-oct-04-mn-39089-story.html | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=October 4, 1997 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> In 1999, he signed into law the Financial Services Modernization Act also known as the [[Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act]], which repealed the part of the [[Glass–Steagall Act]] that had prohibited a bank from offering a full range of [[Investment banking|investment]], [[commercial bank]]ing, and insurance services since its enactment in 1933.<ref>{{cite news | title=Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 | url=https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/gramm_leach_bliley_act | publisher=Federal Reserve History | access-date=February 22, 2020 }}</ref>

==== Investigations ====
In November 1993, [[David Hale (Whitewater)|David Hale]]—the source of criminal allegations against Bill Clinton in the Whitewater controversy—alleged that while Governor of Arkansas, Clinton pressured Hale to provide an illegal $300,000 loan to [[Susan McDougal]], the Clintons' partner in the Whitewater land deal.<ref name="salon031798">{{cite news |last1=Broder |first1=Jonathan |last2=Waas |first2=Murray |author2-link=Murray Waas |date=March 17, 1998 |title=The Road To Hale |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |url=http://www.salon.com/news/1998/03/cov_17news.html |url-status=dead |access-date=August 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616194202/http://salon.com/news/1998/03/cov_17news.html |archive-date=June 16, 2006}}</ref> A [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] investigation resulted in convictions against the McDougals for their role in the Whitewater project, but the Clintons themselves were never charged, and Clinton maintains his and his wife's innocence in the affair.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Washingtonpost.com: Caught in the Whitewater Quagmire |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/stories/wwtr950828.htm |access-date=October 23, 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Investigations by [[Robert B. Fiske]] and [[Ken Starr]] found insufficient to evidence to prosecute the Clintons.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 21, 2002 |title='Insufficient Evidence' Ends Whitewater Case |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-mar-21-mn-33965-story.html |access-date=October 23, 2022 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Washingtonpost.com: Whitewater Special Report |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/whitewater112098.htm |access-date=October 23, 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

The [[White House FBI files controversy]] of June 1996 arose concerning improper access by the White House to [[FBI]] security-clearance documents. Craig Livingstone, head of the White House Office of Personnel Security, improperly requested, and received from the FBI, background report files without asking permission of the subject individuals; many of these were employees of former Republican administrations.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ray |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Ray (prosecutor) |date=March 16, 2000 |title=Final Report of the Independent Counsel&nbsp;... of the Investigation In Re: Anthony Marceca |url=http://www.gpoaccess.gov/icreport/marceca/sec1-2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/icreport/marceca/sec1-2.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |access-date=August 30, 2011 |publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office]]}}{{dead link|date=April 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In March 2000, Independent Counsel [[Robert Ray (prosecutor)|Robert Ray]] determined there was no credible evidence of any crime. Ray's report further stated, "there was no substantial and credible evidence that any senior White House official was involved" in seeking the files.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 28, 2000 |title=Independent counsel: No evidence to warrant prosecution against first lady in 'filegate' |work=CNN|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/07/28/clinton.filegate |url-status=dead |access-date=April 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529015957/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/07/28/clinton.filegate/ |archive-date=May 29, 2010}}</ref>

On May 19, 1993, Clinton fired seven employees of the White House Travel Office. This caused the [[White House travel office controversy]] even though the travel office staff served at the pleasure of the president and could be [[At-will employment|dismissed without cause]]. The White House responded to the controversy by claiming that the firings were done in response to financial improprieties that had been revealed by a brief FBI investigation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clinton |first=Hillary |title=Living History |title-link=Living History (book) |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7432-2224-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/livinghistory00clin/page/n189 172] |author-link=Hillary Clinton}}</ref> Critics contended that the firings had been done to allow friends of the Clintons to take over the travel business and the involvement of the FBI was unwarranted.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gormley |first=Ken |url=https://archive.org/details/deathofamericanv00gorm/page/70 |title=The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr |publisher=[[Crown Publishers]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-307-40944-7 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/deathofamericanv00gorm/page/70 70–71] |author-link=Ken Gormley (academic)}}</ref> The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee issued a report which accused the Clinton administration of having obstructed their efforts to investigate the affair.<ref name="cnn_com">{{Cite web |title=AllPolitics - Travelgate Report OK'd - Sept. 18, 1996 |url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9609/18/travelgate/index.shtml |access-date=October 23, 2022 |website=CNN}}</ref> Special counsel Robert Fiske said that Hillary Clinton was involved in the firing and gave "factually false" testimony to the GAO, congress, and the independent counsel. However Fiske said there was not enough evidence to prosecute.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2007 |title=III. Findings |url=http://a255.g.akamaitech.net/7/255/2422/13may20041504/icreport.access.gpo.gov/watkins/13-17.pdf |access-date=October 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628181404/http://a255.g.akamaitech.net/7/255/2422/13may20041504/icreport.access.gpo.gov/watkins/13-17.pdf |archive-date=June 28, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="cnn_com" />

====Impeachment and acquittal====

{{Main|Impeachment of Bill Clinton|Impeachment trial of Bill Clinton}}

[[File:Senate in session.jpg|thumb|Clinton's impeachment trial in 1999]]

After [[Impeachment inquiry against Bill Clinton|a House inquiry]], Clinton was [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeached]] on December 19, 1998, by the House of Representatives. The House voted 228–206 to impeach him for perjury to a [[grand jury]]<ref name=ai>{{cite web | author = Miller, Lorraine C. | title = Final vote results for roll call 543 | publisher = Office of the Clerk | date = December 19, 1998 | url = http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1998/roll543.xml | access-date = April 20, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100106230404/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1998/roll543.xml | archive-date = January 6, 2010 | url-status = live }}</ref> and voted 221–212 to impeach him for obstruction of justice.<ref name=aiii>{{cite web | author = Miller, Lorraine C. | title = Final vote results for roll call 545 | publisher = Office of the Clerk | date = December 19, 1998 | url = http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1998/roll545.xml | access-date = April 20, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100302015416/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1998/roll545.xml | archive-date = March 2, 2010 | url-status = live }}</ref> Clinton was only the second U.S. president (the first being [[Andrew Johnson]]) to be impeached.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-have-presidents-been-impeached-for-these-were-the-articles-of-impeachment-johnson-nixon-and-clinton/|title=What have presidents been impeached for? These were the articles of impeachment for Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton|agency=CBS News|access-date=December 12, 2019}}</ref> Impeachment proceedings were based on allegations that Clinton had illegally lied about and covered up his relationship with 22-year-old White House (and later [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]) employee [[Monica Lewinsky]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Time Line | date=September 13, 1998 | page=A32 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/timeline.htm | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=January 20, 2007}}</ref> After the [[Starr Report]] was submitted to the House providing what it termed "substantial and credible information that President Clinton Committed Acts that May Constitute Grounds for an Impeachment",<ref>{{cite book | last1=Starr | first1=Kenneth | title=The Starr Report: The Findings of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr on President Clinton and the Lewinsky Affair | year=1998 | publisher=PublicAffairs | isbn=978-1-891620-24-9 | url=https://archive.org/details/starrreportfindi00star }}</ref> the House began impeachment hearings against Clinton before the [[United States midterm election|mid-term elections]]. To hold impeachment proceedings, Republican leadership called a [[lame-duck session]] in December 1998.

[[File:Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.jpg|thumb|Clinton in 2000 at [[Trump Tower]], shaking hands with future 45th and 47th president [[Donald Trump]]]]
While the [[House Judiciary Committee]] hearings ended in a straight party-line vote, there was lively debate on the House floor. The two charges passed in the House (largely with Republican support, but with a handful of Democratic votes as well) were for perjury and obstruction of justice. The perjury charge arose from Clinton's testimony before a grand jury that had been convened to investigate perjury he may have committed in his sworn deposition during ''[[Clinton v. Jones|Jones v. Clinton]],'' Paula Jones's sexual harassment lawsuit.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/pjones.htm | title=Case Closed | first=Dan | last=Froomkin | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 26, 1999 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> The obstruction charge was based on his actions to conceal his relationship with Lewinsky before and after that deposition.

The Senate later acquitted Clinton of both charges.<ref name=senvoteai>{{cite web | author=Senate LIS | title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 106th Congress—1st Session: vote number 17—Guilty or Not Guilty (Art I, Articles of Impeachment v. President W. J. Clinton) | publisher=United States Senate | date=February 12, 1999 | url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00017 |access-date =February 22, 2020}}</ref> The Senate refused to meet to hold an impeachment trial before the end of the old term, so the trial was held over until the next Congress. Clinton was represented by Washington law firm [[Williams & Connolly]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Clinton impeached | work=BBC News | date=December 19, 1998 | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/clinton_under_fire/latest_news/238784.stm | access-date=October 29, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211142909/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/clinton_under_fire/latest_news/238784.stm | archive-date=December 11, 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> The Senate finished a twenty-one-day trial on February 12, 1999, with the vote of 55 not guilty/45 guilty on the perjury charge<ref name=senvoteai /> and 50 not guilty/50 guilty on the obstruction of justice charge.<ref name="washingtonpostimpeachment">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-impeachment/senate-acquits-president-clinton/ | title=The Senate Acquits President Clinton | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=February 13, 1999 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> Both votes fell short of the constitutional two-thirds majority requirement to convict and remove an officeholder. The final vote was generally along party lines, with no Democrats voting guilty, and only a handful of Republicans voting not guilty.<ref name=senvoteai />

On January 19, 2001, Clinton's law license was suspended for five years after he acknowledged to an Arkansas circuit court he had engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice in the ''Jones'' case.<ref name="arkcomm">{{cite court |litigants=Neal v. Clinton |opinion=Civ. No. 2000-5677 |pinpoint=Agreed Order of Discipline |court=Ark. Cir. Ct. |year=2001  |quote=Mr. Clinton admits and acknowledges&nbsp;... that his discovery responses interfered with the conduct of the ''Jones'' case by causing the court and counsel for the parties to expend unnecessary time, effort, and resources |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826214725/https://www.arcourts.gov/sites/default/files/opc_opinions_59 |url=https://www.arcourts.gov/sites/default/files/opc_opinions_59 }}</ref><ref name="wsj01plea">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB980120797221261327|title=Bill cops a plea|author=<!--No by-line.-->|date=January 22, 2001|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> On October 1, the U.S. Supreme Court suspended Clinton from practicing law in the high court, citing fallout from the Lewinsky scandal,<ref>Kirkland, Michael (October 1, 2001). [https://www.upi.com/Archives/2001/10/01/Clinton-suspended-from-Supreme-Court-bar/1801001908800/ Clinton suspended from Supreme Court bar]. ''[[United Press International]]''. Retrieved December 5, 2024.</ref> but rather than appealing the decision he resigned from the bar entirely.<ref>[https://www.deseret.com/2001/11/10/19615934/clinton-resigns-from-the-bar-of-supreme-court/ Clinton resigns from the bar of Supreme Court]. ''[[Deseret News]]''. November 10, 2001. Retrieved December 5, 2024.</ref>

====Pardons and commutations ====

Clinton [[Bill Clinton pardon controversy|issued]] 141 pardons and 36 commutations on his last day in office on January 20, 2001.<ref name="The Survivor" /><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010120/aponline135239_000.htm | title=Clinton Pardon's List | agency=[[Associated Press]] | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=January 20, 2001 | access-date=August 30, 2011 | archive-date=January 15, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115053709/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010120/aponline135239_000.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> Controversy surrounded [[Marc Rich]] and allegations that Hillary Clinton's brother, [[Hugh Edwin Rodham|Hugh Rodham]], accepted payments in return for influencing the president's decision-making regarding the pardons.<ref>{{cite news | title=Clinton pardons: Cast of characters | work=BBC News | date=February 22, 2001 | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1184118.stm | access-date=September 11, 2011}}</ref> Federal prosecutor [[Mary Jo White]] was appointed to investigate the pardon of Rich. She was later replaced by then-Republican [[James Comey]]. The investigation found no wrongdoing on Clinton's part.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/james-comey-fbi-bill-clinton-233808|title = Comey 'enthusiastic' about Bill Clinton probe in 2001, FBI memo says|newspaper = [[Politico]]}}</ref> Clinton also pardoned four defendants in the [[Whitewater Scandal]], [[Chris Wade (real estate broker)|Chris Wade]], [[Susan McDougal]], [[Stephen Smith (Whitewater)|Stephen Smith]], and [[Robert W. Palmer]], all of whom had ties to Clinton when he was Governor of Arkansas.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Clinton Pardons McDougal, Hearst, Others|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=122001&page=1|access-date=August 11, 2021|agency=ABC News}}</ref> Former Clinton [[HUD Secretary]] [[Henry Cisneros]], who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, was also among Clinton's pardons.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stout|first=David|date=January 20, 2001|title=Clinton Pardons McDougal, Cisneros|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/20/politics/clinton-pardons-mcdougal-cisneros.html|access-date=August 11, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==== Campaign finance controversies ====
{{Further|Lincoln Bedroom for contributors controversy|1996 United States campaign finance controversy}}
In February 1997 it was discovered upon documents being released by the [[Clinton Administration]] that 938 people had stayed at the White House and that 821 of them had made donations to the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and got the opportunity to stay in the Lincoln bedroom as a result of the donations.<ref>{{Cite news|title=AllPolitics - White House Sleepovers - Feb. 25, 1997|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/02/25/clinton.money/|access-date=August 9, 2021|agency=CNN}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{Cite news|title=President Had Big Role in Setting Donor Perks|date=February 26, 1997|first1=Peter|last1=Baker|first2=Susan|last2=Schmidt|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/lincoln.htm|access-date=August 9, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Some donors included [[Steven Spielberg]], [[Tom Hanks]], [[Jane Fonda]], and [[Judy Collins]]. Top donors also got golf games and morning jogs with Clinton as a result of the contributions.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> [[Janet Reno]] was called on to investigate the matter by [[Trent Lott]], but she refused.<ref>{{Cite web|title=AllPolitics - Reno Resisting Pressure - Feb. 27, 1997|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/02/27/fundraising/|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=CNN}}</ref>

In 1996,&nbsp;it was found that several Chinese foreigners made contributions to Clinton's reelection campaign and the [[Democratic National Committee]] with the backing of the [[China|People's Republic of China]]. Some of them also attempted to donate to Clinton's defense fund.<ref>{{Cite news|title=washingtonpost.com: Campaign Finance Key Player – Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/players/trie.htm|access-date=August 9, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> This violated United States law forbidding non-American citizens from making campaign contributions. Clinton and [[Al Gore]] also allegedly met with the foreign donors.<ref>{{Cite web|title=AllPolitics - Fund-Raising Flap - Cast of Characters|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/gen/resources/infocus/fundraising.flap/characters.html|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=May 24, 2008|title=Chinese Aerospace Official Denies Giving To Democrats - May 21, 1998|website=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/05/21/china.money/|access-date=August 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524033516/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/05/21/china.money/|archive-date=May 24, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=August 5, 2006|title=Fund-raiser Charlie Trie pleads guilty under plea agreement - May 21, 1999|website=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/05/21/trie/|access-date=August 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060805092557/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/05/21/trie/|archive-date=August 5, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=April 23, 2009|title=AllPolitics - A Chinese Spy? - May 12, 1997|website=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/05/12/chinese.donor/|access-date=August 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423050727/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/05/12/chinese.donor/|archive-date=April 23, 2009}}</ref> A Republican investigation led by [[Fred Thompson]] found that Clinton was targeted by the Chinese government. However, Democratic senators [[Joe Lieberman]] and [[John Glenn]] said that the evidence showed that China only targeted congressional elections and not presidential elections.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Washingtonpost.com: Campaign Finance Special Report|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/cf072097.htm|access-date=August 9, 2021|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>

===Military and foreign affairs===
{{Main|Foreign policy of the Clinton administration}}

====Somalia====
[[File:President Clinton talks with Col. Paul Fletcher, USAF.jpeg|thumb|[[Colonel (United States)|Col.]] [[Paul J. Fletcher|Paul Fletcher]], [[United States Air Force|USAF]] and Clinton speak before boarding [[Air Force One]], November 4, 1999.]]
American troops had first entered [[Somalia]] during the [[Foreign policy of the George H. W. Bush administration|Bush administration]] in response to a humanitarian crisis and [[Somali Civil War|civil war]]. Though initially involved to assist humanitarian efforts, the Clinton administration shifted the objectives set out in the mission and began pursuing a policy of attempting to neutralize Somali warlords. In 1993, during the [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]], [[MH-60 Black Hawk|two U.S. helicopters]] were shot down by [[rocket-propelled grenade]] attacks to their [[tail rotor]]s, trapping soldiers behind enemy lines. This resulted in an urban battle that killed 18 American soldiers, wounded 73 others, and resulted in one being taken prisoner.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web|title=What A Downed Black Hawk In Somalia Taught America|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/10/05/229561805/what-a-downed-black-hawk-in-somalia-taught-america|website=[[NPR]]|date=October 5, 2013|access-date=March 3, 2022}}</ref> Television news programs depicted the supporters of warlord [[Mohammed Aidid]] desecrating the corpses of troops.<ref name="NPR"/> The backlash resulting from the incident prompted a drop in support for American intervention in the country and coincided with a more cautious use of troops throughout the rest of the Clinton administration.<ref name="NPR"/> Following a subsequent national security policy review, U.S. forces were withdrawn from Somalia and later conflicts were approached with fewer soldiers on the ground.<ref>{{cite news |title=The people killed them. Chopped them up. I consider myself lucky |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1993/oct/09/usa |work=The Guardian |date=October 9, 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dauber |first1=Cori Elizabeth |title=The Shot Seen 'Round the World: The Impact of the Images of Mogadishu on American Military Operations |journal=Rhetoric & Public Affairs |date=December 1, 2001 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=653–687 |doi=10.1353/rap.2001.0066 |id={{Project MUSE|29928}} |jstor=41940265 |s2cid=153565083 }}</ref>

====Rwanda====

In April 1994, [[Rwandan genocide|genocide]] broke out in [[Rwanda]]. Intelligence reports indicate that Clinton was aware a "final solution to eliminate all [[Tutsi]]s" was underway, long before the administration publicly used the word "genocide".<ref>{{cite news|last=Carrol|first=Rory|title=US chose to ignore Rwandan genocide|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/31/usa.rwanda|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=April 1, 2004|access-date=February 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228191139/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/31/usa.rwanda|archive-date=December 28, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=[[Bureau of Intelligence and Research]] |title=Secretary [of State Warren Christopher]'s Morning Summary |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117/Rw23.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117/Rw23.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |date=April 26, 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |title=National Intelligence Daily |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117/Rw34.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117/Rw34.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |date=April 23, 1994}}</ref> Fearing a reprisal of the events in Somalia the previous year, Clinton chose not to intervene.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambush in Mogadishu: Transcript |publisher=[[PBS]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/etc/script.html |access-date=October 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506142008/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush/etc/script.html |archive-date=May 6, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> Clinton has called his failure to intervene one of his main foreign policy failings, saying "I don't think we could have ended the violence, but I think we could have cut it down. And I regret it."<ref>{{cite news|last=Chozick|first=Amy|title=In Africa, Bill Clinton Toils for a Charitable Legacy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/us/politics/in-africa-bill-clinton-works-to-leave-a-charitable-legacy.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 4, 2012 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022022004/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/us/politics/in-africa-bill-clinton-works-to-leave-a-charitable-legacy.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=October 22, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Bosnia and Herzegovina====

[[File:U.S. delegation pose for a group photo with Air Force personnel during the flight to Tuzla, Bosnia - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton with the U.S. delegation to Bosnia and Air Force personnel in a flight to [[Tuzla]] on December 22, 1997. Clinton is seen alongside future 46th president [[Joe Biden]].]]
In 1993 and 1994, Clinton pressured Western European leaders to adopt a strong military policy against [[Bosnian Serbs]] during the [[Bosnian War]]. This strategy faced staunch opposition from the [[United Nations]], [[NATO]] allies, and congressional Republicans, leading Clinton to adopt a more diplomatic approach.<ref>{{cite book|first=Carole|last=Hodge|title=Britain and the Balkans: 1991 Until the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qNqCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|pages=55–56|isbn=9781134425570}}</ref> In 1995, U.S. and NATO aircraft [[Operation Deliberate Force|bombed Bosnian Serb targets]] to halt attacks on UN safe zones and pressure them into a peace accord that would end the [[Bosnian war]]. Clinton deployed U.S. peacekeepers to Bosnia in late 1995, to uphold the subsequent [[Dayton Agreement]].<ref>Halberstam, 2001, pp 349–60.</ref>

====Northern Irish peace talks====

[[File:President Bill Clinton and Gerry Adams.jpg|thumb|right|Clinton shaking hands with [[Gerry Adams]] outside a business in East Belfast, November 30, 1995]]
In 1992, before his presidency, Clinton proposed sending a peace envoy to [[Northern Ireland]], but this was dropped to avoid tensions with the British government. In November 1995, in a ceasefire during [[the Troubles]], Clinton became the first president to visit Northern Ireland, examining both of the two divided communities of [[Belfast]].<ref>{{Cite news|website=BBC|title=1995: Clinton kindles hope in Northern Ireland|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/30/newsid_4459000/4459860.stm|date=November 30, 1995 |access-date=December 12, 2019}}</ref> Despite [[Unionism in Ireland|unionist]] criticism, Clinton used his visit as a way to negotiate an end to the violent conflict, playing a key role in the [[Northern Ireland peace process|peace talks]] that produced the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in 1998.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=MacGinty |first1=Roger |title=American Influences on the Northern Ireland Peace Process |journal=Journal of Conflict Studies |date=1997 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=31–50 |url=https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/jcs17_02art02 }}</ref>

[[File:Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin 1994.jpg|thumb|right|Clinton plays the saxophone presented to him by Russian president [[Boris Yeltsin]] at a private dinner in Russia, January 13, 1994.]]

====Iran====

Clinton sought to continue the Bush administration's policy of limiting Iranian influence in the Middle East, which he laid out in the [[dual containment]] strategy. In 1994, Clinton declared that Iran was a "[[State Sponsors of Terrorism|state sponsor of terrorism]]" and a "rogue state", marking the first time that an American president used that term.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.germanlawjournal.com/article.php?id=188|website=The German Law Journal<!-- Bot generated title -->|title=Rogue States – State Sponsors of Terrorism?|author-first1=Petra|author-last1=Minnerop|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209180115/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JdR4uv-pAv4J:www.germanlawjournal.com/article.php?id%3D188+Clinton:+Iran+is+state+sponsor+of+terrorism&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us|archive-date=December 9, 2012|access-date=April 4, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref> Subsequent executive orders heavily sanctioned Iran's oil industry and banned almost all trade between U.S. companies and the Iranian government. In February 1996, the Clinton administration agreed to pay Iran US$131.8{{nbsp}}million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|131.8|1996|r=2}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation-year|US}}) in settlement to discontinue a case brought by Iran in 1989 against the U.S. in the [[International Court of Justice]] after the shooting down of [[Iran Air Flight 655]] by the U.S. Navy [[guided missile cruiser]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/07/the-vincennes-downing-of-iran-air-flight-655-the-united-states-tried-to-cover-up-its-own-destruction-of-a-passenger-plane.html | title=America's Flight 17 | work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|first=Fred|last=Kaplan | date=July 23, 2014}}</ref>

====Iraq====

In Clinton's [[1998 State of the Union Address]], he warned Congress that Iraqi dictator [[Saddam Hussein]] was building an arsenal of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite journal|title=House of Representatives|date=January 27, 1998|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office]]|place=Washington, DC|volume=144|issue=1|page=H34|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1998-01-27/pdf/CREC-1998-01-27-house.pdf|access-date=August 19, 2024}}</ref> Although, there was no evidence for that claim.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=2004-10-07 |title=There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/07/usa.iraq1 |access-date=2025-03-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Clinton signed the [[Iraq Liberation Act of 1998]] on October 31, 1998, which instituted a policy of "regime change" against Iraq, though it explicitly stated it did not provide for direct intervention on the part of American military forces.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/libera.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218092435/http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/libera.htm | archive-date=February 18, 2007 | title=Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, H.R.4655, One Hundred Fifth Congress of United States of America at Second Session | publisher=Library of Congress | access-date=February 18, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/4655 | title=H.R.4655—Iraq Liberation Act of 1998| date=October 31, 1998}}</ref> The administration then launched a four-day bombing campaign named [[Operation Desert Fox]], lasting from December 16 to 19, 1998. At the end of this operation Clinton announced that "So long as Saddam remains in power, he will remain a threat to his people, his region, and the world. With our allies, we must pursue a strategy to contain him and to constrain his weapons of mass destruction program, while working toward the day Iraq has a government willing to live at peace with its people and with its neighbors."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/225872 | title=Address to the Nation on Completion of Military Strikes in Iraq | publisher=Presidency.ucsb.edu | date=December 19, 1998 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> American and British aircraft in the Iraq no-fly zones attacked hostile Iraqi air defenses 166 times in 1999 and 78 times in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title= Colin Powell, former soldier and still an all-American hero |url= https://mclane65.tripod.com/cpowell.html|website= tripod.com |access-date= February 3, 2023 }}</ref>

====Osama bin Laden====

Capturing Osama bin Laden was an objective of the U.S. government during the Clinton presidency (and continued to be until [[Killing of Osama bin Laden|bin Laden's death in 2011]]).<ref>{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/24/clinton.binladen/index.html | title=Bill Clinton: I got closer to killing bin Laden | work=CNN | date=September 24, 2006 | access-date=September 11, 2011}}</ref> Despite claims by [[Mansoor Ijaz]] and Sudanese officials that the Sudanese government had offered to arrest and extradite bin Laden, and that U.S. authorities rejected each offer,<ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-dec-05-oe-ijaz05-story.html | title=Clinton Let Bin Laden Slip Away and Metastisize | work=Los Angeles Times | date=December 5, 2001 | access-date=February 22, 2020 | first=Mansoor | last=Ijaz}}</ref> the [[9/11 Commission Report]] stated that "we have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_5.pdf | title=Staff Statement No. 5 | publisher=9/11 Commission | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref>

In response to a 1996 State Department warning about bin Laden<ref>{{cite news | last=Lichtblau | first=Eric | title=State Dept. Says It Warned About bin Laden in 1996 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/world/asia/state-dept-says-it-warned-about-bin-laden-in-1996.html | work=The New York Times | date=August 17, 2005 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> and the [[1998 United States embassy bombings|1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa]] by al-Qaeda (which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans), Clinton ordered several military missions to capture or kill bin Laden, all of which were unsuccessful. In August 1998, Clinton [[Operation Infinite Reach|ordered cruise missile strikes on terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan]], targeting the [[Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory]] in Sudan, which was suspected of assisting bin Laden in making chemical weapons, and bin Laden's terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. The factory was destroyed by the attack, resulting in the death of one employee and the wounding of 11 other people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CNN - U.S. missiles pound targets in Afghanistan, Sudan - August 21, 1998 |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/20/us.strikes.02/ |access-date=September 24, 2022 |website=CNN}}</ref> After the destruction of the factory, there was a medicine shortage in Sudan due to the plant providing 50 percent of Sudan's medicine, and the destruction of the plant led to a shortage of chloroquine, a drug which is used to treat malaria.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 14, 2007 |title=United States Terrorism in the Sudan (by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed) - Media Monitors Network |url=http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq16.html |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614024139/http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq16.html |archive-date=June 14, 2007 }}</ref> U.S. officials later acknowledged that there was no evidence the plant was acknowledging manufacturing or storing nerve gas.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cloud |first=David S. |date=April 23, 2006 |title=Colleagues Say C.I.A. Analyst Played by the Rules |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/washington/colleagues-say-cia-analyst-played-by-the-rules.html |access-date=September 24, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The attack provoked criticism of Clinton from journalists and academics including [[Christopher Hitchens]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |date=September 23, 1998 |title=They bomb pharmacies, don't they? |url=https://www.salon.com/1998/09/23/news_114/ |access-date=September 24, 2022 |website=Salon.com}}</ref> [[Seymour Hersh]],<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 5, 1998 |title=The Missiles of August |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/10/12/the-missiles-of-august |access-date=September 24, 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref> [[Max Taylor (psychologist)|Max Taylor]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Max |last2=Elbushra |first2=Mohamed E. |date=September 1, 2006 |title=Research Note: Hassan al-Turabi, Osama bin Laden, and Al Qaeda in Sudan |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=449–464 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/895988 |doi=10.1080/09546550600752022|s2cid=144769891 }}</ref> and others.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Noah |first=Timothy |date=April 1, 2004 |title=More on Clinton's Sudan bombing. |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/04/more-on-clinton-s-sudan-bombing.html |access-date=September 24, 2022 |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref>

====Kosovo====

[[File:President Clinton is briefed on Kosovo - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton during a briefing on Kosovo, March 31, 1999]]

In the midst of a brutal crackdown on [[Kosovo Liberation Army|ethnic Albanian separatists]] in the province of [[Kosovo]] by the [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], Clinton authorized the use of U.S. Armed Forces in a NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, named [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|Operation Allied Force]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Clines |first1=Francis X. |title=NATO Opens Broad Barrage Against Serbs as Clinton Denounces 'Brutal Repression' |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/032599kosovo-rdp.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 25, 1999}}</ref> The stated reasoning behind the intervention was to stop the [[ethnic cleansing]] (and what the Clinton administration labeled [[genocide]])<ref>{{cite web |last=Cohen |first=William |date=April 7, 1999 |url=https://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=582 |title=Secretary Cohen's Press Conference at NATO Headquarters |access-date=February 22, 2020 |archive-date=June 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604215218/https://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=582 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Clinton |first=Bill |date=August 30, 2011 |url=http://clinton6.nara.gov/1999/06/1999-06-25-press-conference-by-the-president.html |title=Press Conference by the President |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061006054609/http://clinton6.nara.gov/1999/06/1999-06-25-press-conference-by-the-president.html |archive-date=October 6, 2006 }}</ref> of Albanians by Yugoslav anti-guerilla military units. General [[Wesley Clark]] was [[Supreme Allied Commander Europe|Supreme Allied Commander of NATO]] and oversaw the mission. With [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244]], the bombing campaign ended on June 10, 1999. The resolution placed Kosovo under UN administration and authorized a [[Kosovo Force|peacekeeping force]] to be deployed to the region.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nato.int/kosovo/docu/u990610a.htm | title=Resolution 1244 (1999) | date=June 10, 1999 | publisher=NATO | access-date=August 17, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110629135857/http://www.nato.int/kosovo/docu/u990610a.htm| archive-date= June 29, 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref> NATO announced its soldiers all survived combat,<ref name="roblect">{{cite web | first=Adam | last=Roberts | url=https://lisd.princeton.edu/sites/lisd2017/files/Roberts_Lecture.pdf | title=The Impact of the Laws of War in Contemporary Conflicts (PDF) | date=April 10, 2003 | publisher=Princeton University | access-date=February 22, 2020 | archive-date=February 23, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223022737/https://lisd.princeton.edu/sites/lisd2017/files/Roberts_Lecture.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> though two died in an [[Boeing AH-64 Apache|Apache helicopter]] crash.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/335709.stm | title=Two die in Apache crash | work=BBC News | date=May 5, 1999 | access-date=August 17, 2011}}</ref> Journalists in the popular press criticized genocide statements by the Clinton administration as false and greatly exaggerated.<ref>{{cite web | last=Pilger | first=John | date=September 4, 2000 | url=https://www.newstatesman.com/node/151946 | title=US and British officials told us that at least 100,000 were murdered in Kosovo. A year later, fewer than 3,000 bodies have been found | work=[[New Statesman]] | access-date=August 28, 2019 | archive-date=May 4, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504061509/https://www.newstatesman.com/node/151946 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Daniel | last1=Pearl |first2=Robert | last2=Block | date=December 31, 1999 | url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB946593838546941319 | title=Despite Tales, the War in Kosovo Was Savage, but Wasn't Genocide | work=The Wall Street Journal | page= A1}}</ref> Prior to the bombing campaign on March 24, 1999, estimates showed that the number of civilians killed in the over year long [[Kosovo war|conflict in Kosovo]] had been approximately 1,800, with critics asserting that little or no evidence existed of genocide.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Layne |first1=Christopher |last2=Schwarz |first2=Benjamin |title=Was It A Mistake? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-03/26/081r-032600-idx.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 26, 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cockburn |first1=Alexander |title=Where's the Evidence of Genocide of Kosovar Albanians? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-29-me-27493-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=October 29, 1999}}</ref> In a post-war inquiry, the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] noted "the patterns of the expulsions and the vast increase in lootings, killings, rape, kidnappings and pillage once the NATO air war began on March 24."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Erlanger |first1=Steven |title=Monitors' Reports Provide Chronicle of Kosovo Terror |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/05/world/monitors-reports-provide-chronicle-of-kosovo-terror.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 22, 2020 |orig-date=December 5, 1999}}</ref> In 2001, the [[United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo|UN-supervised]] [[Judiciary of Kosovo|Supreme Court of Kosovo]] ruled that genocide (the [[genocidal intent|intent to destroy]] a people) did not take place, but recognized "a systematic campaign of terror, including murders, rapes, arsons and severe maltreatments" with the intention being the forceful departure of the Albanian population.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1530781.stm | title=Kosovo assault 'was not genocide' | work=BBC News | date=September 7, 2001 | access-date=August 17, 2011}}</ref> The term "ethnic cleansing" was used as an alternative to "genocide" to denote not just ethnically motivated murder but also displacement, though critics charge there is little difference.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | author=George J. Andreopoulos | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethnic-cleansing | title=Ethnic Cleansing | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> [[Slobodan Milošević]], the president of Yugoslavia at the time of the atrocities, was [[Trial of Slobodan Milošević|eventually brought to trial]] before the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] in [[the Hague]] on charges including [[crimes against humanity]] and war crimes for his role in the war.<ref name="Milosevic Charges">{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1402790.stm | title=The charges against Milosevic | work=BBC News | date=March 11, 2006 | access-date=August 17, 2011}}</ref> He died in 2006, before the completion of the trial.<ref name="Milosevic Charges" /><ref>{{cite news | title=Milosevic's war crimes trial a 4-year marathon | work=CNN | date=March 11, 2006 | url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/03/11/milosevic.trial/ | access-date=July 30, 2019}}</ref>

====China====

{{See also|1996 United States campaign finance controversy}}
[[File:Clinton and jiang-1.jpg|thumb|left|Clinton and Chinese president [[Jiang Zemin]] holding a joint press conference at the White House, October 29, 1997]]

Clinton aimed to increase trade with China, minimizing import tariffs and offering the country [[most favoured nation]] status in 1993, his administration minimized tariff levels in Chinese imports. Clinton initially conditioned extension of this status on [[Human rights in China|human rights]] reforms, but ultimately decided to extend the status despite a lack of reform in the specified areas, including free emigration, treatment of prisoners in terms of international human rights, and observation of human rights specified by UN resolutions, among others.<ref>Song, ed., ''Encyclopedia of Chinese-American Relations'' p 74.</ref>

Relations were damaged briefly by the [[United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade|American bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade]] in May 1999. Clinton apologized for the bombing, stating it was accidental.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://congressionalresearch.com/RS20547/document.php |title = Chinese Embassy Bombing In Belgrade: Compensation Issues |publisher = Congressional Research Service }}</ref>

[[File:Video Recording of Photo Opportunity at Camp David - NARA - 6037428.ogv|thumb|Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]], President Clinton and Palestinian leader [[Yasser Arafat]] at [[Camp David]], July 2000]]

On October 10, 2000, Clinton signed into law the [[United States–China Relations Act of 2000]], which granted [[permanent normal trade relations]] (PNTR) trade status to China.<ref>{{cite news|last=Smith |first=Matt |url=http://cgi.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/10/clinton.pntr |title=Clinton signs China trade bill |work=CNN|date=October 10, 2000 |access-date=July 3, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714142523/http://cgi.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/10/10/clinton.pntr/ |archive-date=July 14, 2014 }}</ref> The president asserted that free trade would gradually open China to democratic reform.<ref>{{cite book | author=Peter B. Levy | year=2002 | url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00levy| url-access=registration | title=Encyclopedia of the Clinton Presidency | page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00levy/page/57 57] | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | isbn=978-0-313-31294-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Was Letting China Into the WTO a Mistake? |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2018-04-02/was-letting-china-wto-mistake |work=Foreign Affairs |date=April 2, 2018}}</ref>

In encouraging Congress to approve the agreement and China's accession to the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO), Clinton stated that more trade with China would advance America's economic interests, saying that "economically, this agreement is the equivalent of a one-way street. It requires China to open its markets—with a fifth of the world's population, potentially the biggest markets in the world—to both our products and services in unprecedented new ways."<ref>[https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/Full_Text_of_Clintons_Speech_on_China_Trade_Bi.htm "Text of Clinton's Speech on China Trade Bill"], Federal News Service, March 9, 2000</ref>

====Israeli-Palestinian conflict====
[[File:Summit_of_the_Peacemakers_in_Sharm_el-Sheikh,_March_13,_1996_II_Dan_Hadani_Archive.jpg|alt=Summit of the Peacemakers in Sharm el-Sheikh, March 1996|thumb|World Leaders attending the Sharm El Sheikh Summit for Peacemakers. From left: [[Helmut Kohl]], [[Hussein of Jordan|King Husein]], [[Shimon Peres]], Clinton, [[Hosni Mubarak]], [[Boris Yeltsin]] and [[Yasser Arafat]] in [[Sharm El Sheikh]], March 1996]]
Clinton attempted to end the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]. Secret negotiations mediated by Clinton between Israeli Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) Chairman [[Yasser Arafat]] led to a historic declaration of peace in September 1993, called the [[Oslo Accords]], which were signed at the White House on September 13. The agreement led to the [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty]] in 1994 and the [[Wye River Memorandum]] in October 1998, however, this did not end the conflict. He brought Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]] and Palestinian Authority chairman [[Yasser Arafat]] together at [[Camp David]] for the [[2000 Camp David Summit]], which lasted 14 days in July.<ref name="The Survivor" /> Following another attempt in December 2000 at [[Bolling Air Force Base]], in which the president offered the [[The Clinton Parameters|Clinton Parameters]], the situation broke down completely after the end of the [[Taba Summit]] and with the start of the [[Second Intifada]].<ref name="The Survivor" />

===Judicial appointments===

{{Main|Bill Clinton Supreme Court candidates|List of federal judges appointed by Bill Clinton}}

[[File:Announcement of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Nominee for Associate Supreme Court Justice at the White House - NARA - 131493870.jpg|thumb|[[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] accepting her nomination to the Supreme Court from President Clinton, 1993]]

Clinton appointed two justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]: [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] in 1993<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx | title=Biographies of Current Justices of the Supreme Court | publisher=Supreme Court | access-date=August 30, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721063602/https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx| archive-date=July 21, 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Stephen Breyer]] in 1994.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://law.onecle.com/ussc/justices/512usxi-appointment-of-justice-breyer.html | title=Appointment and swearing in of Justice Breyer, 1994 | publisher=Law.onecle.com | date=September 30, 1994 | access-date=February 22, 2020}}</ref> Both justices went on to serve until the 2020s, leaving a lasting judicial legacy for President Clinton.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Clinton Legacy: Moderate Judge Appointments|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/politics/0801clinton-crime-judges.html|access-date=January 31, 2022|website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref>

Clinton was the first president in history to appoint more women and minority judges than white male judges to the federal courts.<ref name="Scherer, p. 85">{{cite book|author=Nancy Scherer|title=Scoring Points: Politicians, Activists, and the Lower Federal Court Appointment Process|publisher=Stanford University Press|date=2005|page=85}}</ref> In his eight years in office, 11.6% of Clinton's court of appeals nominees and 17.4% of his district court nominees were black; 32.8% of his court of appeals nominees and 28.5% of his district court nominees were women.<ref name="Scherer, p. 85"/>

==Public opinion==

[[File:Clinton approval rating.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Clinton's [[United States presidential approval rating|approval ratings]] throughout his presidential career (Roper Center)]]
Throughout Clinton's first term, his job approval rating fluctuated in the 40s and 50s. In his second term, his rating consistently ranged from the high-50s to the high-60s.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pollingreport.com/clinton-.htm | title=Bill Clinton: Job Ratings | publisher=Pollingreport.com | access-date=August 17, 2011}}</ref> After his impeachment proceedings in 1998 and 1999, Clinton's rating reached its highest point.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/20/impeachment.poll/ | title=Clinton's approval rating up in wake of impeachment | work=CNN | date=December 20, 1998 | access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref> According to a [[CBS News]]/''New York Times'' poll, Clinton left office with an approval rating of 68&nbsp;percent, which matched those of Ronald Reagan and Franklin D. Roosevelt as the highest ratings for departing presidents in the modern era.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-look-back-at-the-polls/ | title=A Look Back at the Polls | work=[[CBS News]] | first=Bootie | last=Cosgrove-Mather | date=June 7, 2004 | access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref> Clinton's average [[Gallup Organization|Gallup poll]] approval rating for his last quarter in office was 61 percent, the highest final quarter rating any president has received for fifty years.<ref name="Jan2001Gallup">{{cite web|first=David W.|last=Moore|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/2125/clinton-leaves-office-mixed-public-reaction.aspx|title=Clinton Leaves Office With Mixed Public Reaction, Gallup Organization|website=[[Gallup.com]]|date=January 12, 2001}}</ref> Forty-seven percent of the respondents identified themselves as being Clinton supporters.<ref name="Jan2001Gallup" />

As he was leaving office, a CNN/''[[USA Today]]''/Gallup poll revealed that 45&nbsp;percent of Americans said they would miss him; 55&nbsp;percent thought he "would have something worthwhile to contribute and should remain active in public life"; 68&nbsp;percent thought he would be remembered more for his "involvement in personal scandal" than for "his accomplishments"; and 58&nbsp;percent answered "No" to the question "Do you generally think Bill Clinton is honest and trustworthy?"<ref name="Jan2001Gallup" /> The same percentage said he would be remembered as either "outstanding" or "above average" as a president, while 22&nbsp;percent said he would be remembered as "below average" or "poor".<ref name="Jan2001Gallup" /> [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] characterized public consensus on Clinton as, "You can't trust him, he's got weak morals and ethics—and he's done a heck of a good job."<ref name=langer>{{cite web| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=120952| title=Poll: Clinton Legacy Mixed| agency=ABC News| date=January 17, 2001| first=Gary | last=Langer | website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]| access-date=January 19, 2013}}</ref> During his first term, roughly 7 in 10 Americans believed that the media unfairly covered Clinton's character flaws, according to polling.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-public-press/161109319/ Public, Press Butt Heads on Clinton]. ''[[Newsday]]''. May 22, 1995. Retrieved December 18, 2024.</ref>

A year after he left office, a Gallup poll found that 51 percent of respondents said they approved of the overall job Clinton did as president.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-and-messenger-bill-clinton-mounts-c/160358089/ Bill Clinton mounts comeback on the campaign trail]. ''[[News and Messenger]]''. April 15, 2002. Retrieved December 5, 2024.</ref> In May 2006, a CNN poll comparing Clinton's job performance with that of his successor, George W. Bush, found that a strong majority of respondents said Clinton outperformed Bush in six different areas questioned.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/12/bush.clinton.poll/index.html | title=Poll: Clinton outperformed Bush | work=CNN | date=May 15, 2006 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> A June 2006 poll by Gallup found that 61 percent of Americans said they approved of the job Clinton did as president, a 10-point increase from the 2002 poll.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-plain-dealer-retrospective-approval/160183598/ Retrospective approval ratings of past presidents, June 2006 poll]. [[Gallup Organization]]. ''[[The Plain Dealer]]''. December 30, 2006. Retrieved December 5, 2024.</ref> Gallup polls in 2007 and 2011 showed that Clinton was regarded by 13 percent of Americans as the greatest president in U.S. history.<ref>Lydia Saad, [http://www.gallup.com/poll/26608/lincoln-resumes-position-americans-toprated-president.aspx Lincoln Resumes Position as Americans' Top-Rated President: Reagan and Clinton lead among members of their respective parties], Gallup (February 19, 2007).</ref><ref>Frank Newport, [Americans Say Reagan Is the Greatest U.S. President: Lincoln and Clinton next on the list; Washington fifth], Gallup (February 18, 2011).</ref>

In 2010, 69 percent of respondents in a Gallup survey said they approved of the job Clinton did as president, including 47 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of independents. His sudden spike in popularity during this time was attributed to Americans comparing him to then-incumbent Democratic president [[Barack Obama]], who had low approval ratings.<ref>Jones, Jeffrey M. (February 15, 2018). [https://news.gallup.com/poll/226994/obama-first-retrospective-job-approval-rating.aspx Obama's First Retrospective Job Approval Rating Is 63%]. ''[[Gallup Organization]]''. Retrieved December 6, 2024.</ref> In 2014, 18 percent of respondents in a [[Quinnipiac University Polling Institute]] poll of American voters regarded Clinton as the best president since World War II, making him the third most popular among postwar presidents, behind John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.<ref name="Q Poll">[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2056 Obama Is First As Worst President Since WWII, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; More Voters Say Romney Would Have Been Better] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703073437/http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2056 |date=July 3, 2014 }}, Quinnipiac University (July 2, 2014).</ref> The same poll showed that just 3 percent of American voters regarded Clinton as the worst president since World War II.<ref name="Q Poll" />

A 2015 poll by ''[[The Washington Post]]'' asked 162 scholars of the [[American Political Science Association]] to rank all the U.S. presidents in order of greatness. According to their findings, Clinton ranked eighth overall, with a rating of 70 percent.<ref>{{cite news | first1=Brandon | last1=Rottinghaus | first2=Justin | last2=Vaughn | title=New ranking of U.S. presidents puts Lincoln at No. 1, Obama at 18; Kennedy judged most overrated | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=February 16, 2015 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/02/16/new-ranking-of-u-s-presidents-puts-lincoln-1-obama-18-kennedy-judged-most-over-rated/ | access-date=March 24, 2015}}</ref>

==Public image==
{{Main|Public image of Bill Clinton}}

[[File:Bill Clinton 1995 im Parlament in London.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Clinton addressing the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] on November 29, 1995]]
Clinton was the first [[baby boomers|baby boomer]] president.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sandalow |first=Marc |title=Clinton Era Marked by Scandal, Prosperity: 1st Baby Boomer in White House Changed Notions of Presidency |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=January 14, 2001 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/01/14/MN71509.DTL |access-date=October 29, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611162047/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2001%2F01%2F14%2FMN71509.DTL |archive-date=June 11, 2008 }}</ref> Authors Martin Walker and [[Bob Woodward]] stated that Clinton's innovative use of [[sound bite]]-ready dialogue, personal charisma, and public perception-oriented campaigning were a major factor in his high public approval ratings.<ref>Martin Walker, ''Clinton: the President they deserve'', Fourth Estate 1999</ref><ref>Bob Woodward, ''The choice: how Clinton won'', Touchstone 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-684-81308-0}}</ref> When Clinton played the saxophone on ''[[The Arsenio Hall Show]]'', he was described by some religious conservatives as "the MTV president".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vargas |first1=Jose Antonio |title=Bill Clinton -- The MTV President |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Bill-Clinton-The-MTV-President-2961362.php |work=SFGATE |date=January 21, 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bresler |first1=Robert J. |title=The Muddled Meaning of the 2000 Election |id={{Gale|A6969839}} |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Muddled+Meaning+of+the+2000+Election.-a069698398 |newspaper=USA Today |volume=129 |issue=2668 |date=January 1, 2001 |page=13 }}</ref> Opponents sometimes referred to him as "Slick Willie", a nickname which was first applied to him in 1980 by ''Pine Bluff Commercial'' journalist [[Paul Greenberg (journalist)|Paul Greenberg]];<ref name=mafadgreenberg>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/choice/bill/greenberg.html American Frontline:Stories of Bill]. Retrieved May 4, 2015</ref> Greenberg believed that Clinton was abandoning the progressive policies of previous Arkansas governors such as [[Winthrop Rockefeller]], [[Dale Bumpers]] and [[David Pryor]].<ref name=mafadgreenberg /> The claim "Slick Willie" would last throughout his presidency.<ref name=WaPoNickname>{{Cite news| title = It's Come To This: A Nickname That's Proven Hard to Slip | last = Mérida| first = Kevin| date = December 20, 1998 | newspaper=The Washington Post | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/slick122098.htm}}</ref> His folksy manner led him to be [[List of nicknames of United States Presidents|nicknamed]] [[Bubba]] starting from the 1992 presidential election.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Kenneth C. |title=Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-06-008381-6 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=541 |author-link=Kenneth C. Davis}}</ref> Since 2000, he has frequently been referred to as "The Big Dog" or "Big Dog".<ref>{{cite news | last=Dowd | first=Maureen | author-link=Maureen Dowd | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/22/opinion/liberties-dare-speak-his-name.html | title=Liberties; Dare Speak His Name | work= The New York Times | date=October 22, 2000 | access-date=August 23, 2012 | quote="They're going to have to let the big dog run."}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first1=Jim | last1=Rutenberg |first2=Kate | last2=Zernike | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/us/politics/21clinton.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/us/politics/21clinton.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited | title=Bill Clinton Stumps for Obama | work= The New York Times | date=September 20, 2010 | access-date=August 23, 2012 | quote=The Big Dog, as he is known among those in the tight world of Clinton associates&nbsp;...}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His prominent role in campaigning for Obama during the [[2012 United States presidential election|2012 presidential election]] and his widely publicized speech at the [[2012 Democratic National Convention]], where he officially nominated Obama and criticized Republican nominee [[Mitt Romney]] and Republican policies in detail, earned him the nickname "Explainer-in-Chief".<ref>{{cite news | author=McDuffee, Allen | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/think-tanked/post/bill-clintons-dnc-speech-as-explainer-in-chief-it-takes-some-brass-and-more-am-briefing/2012/09/06/088a467a-f821-11e1-8b93-c4f4ab1c8d13_blog.html | title=Bill Clinton's DNC speech as 'explainer in chief,' 'it takes some brass,' and more [AM Briefing] | newspaper= The Washington Post | date = September 6, 2012 | access-date=January 25, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | author=Poniewozik, James | url=https://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/06/the-morning-after-obama-turns-to-bill-clinton-explainer-in-chief/ | title=The Morning After: Obama Turns to Bill Clinton, Explainer-in-Chief | magazine= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=September 6, 2012 | access-date=January 25, 2013}}</ref>

Clinton drew strong support from the African American community and insisted that the improvement of race relations would be a major theme of his presidency.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/07/b122950.html | title=A Conversation With President Bill Clinton on Race in America Today | publisher=[[Center for American Progress]] | date=July 16, 2004 | access-date=August 30, 2011 | archive-date=November 8, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108130318/http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/07/b122950.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1998, [[Nobel Prize|Nobel]] laureate [[Toni Morrison]] called Clinton "the first black president", saying, "Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, [[McDonald's]]-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas".<ref name=MorrisonNewYorker>{{cite magazine | last=Morrison | first=Toni | author-link=Toni Morrison | title=Clinton as the first black president | magazine=The New Yorker | date=October 1998 | url=http://ontology.buffalo.edu./smith/clinton/morrison.html | access-date=December 1, 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061021020246/http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/clinton/morrison.html| archive-date= October 21, 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref> Morrison noted that Clinton's sex life was scrutinized more than his career accomplishments, and she compared this to the stereotyping and [[double standard]]s that, she said, black people typically endure.<ref name=MorrisonNewYorker /> Many viewed this comparison as unfair and disparaging both to Clinton and to the African-American community.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Coates|first1=Ta-Nehisi|title=It Was No Compliment to Call Bill Clinton 'The First Black President'|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2015/08/toni-morrison-wasnt-giving-bill-clinton-a-compliment/402517/ |work=[[The Atlantic]] |date=August 27, 2015 |access-date=October 21, 2016}}</ref>

=== Sexual assault and misconduct allegations ===
{{Main|Bill Clinton sexual assault and misconduct allegations}}

[[File:Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky on February 28, 1997 A3e06420664168d9466c84c3e31ccc2f.jpg|thumb|Clinton and [[Monica Lewinsky]] on February 28, 1997]]
Several women have publicly accused Clinton of sexual misconduct, including rape, harassment, and sexual assault. Additionally, some commentators have characterized Clinton's sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky as predatory or non-consensual, despite the fact that Lewinsky called the relationship consensual at the time. These allegations have been revisited and lent more credence in 2018, in light of the [[Me Too movement|#MeToo movement]], with many commentators and Democratic leaders now saying Clinton should have been compelled to resign after the Lewinsky affair.<ref name="hallmark1">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/abuse-allegations-have-revived-scrutiny-of-bill-clinton--and-divided-democrats/2017/11/17/3d1711c8-cba4-11e7-b244-2d22ac912500_story.html|title=Abuse allegations have revived scrutiny of Bill Clinton—and divided Democrats|first1=Karen|last1=Tumulty|first2=Katie|last2=Mettler|date=November 17, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=November 19, 2017 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119050428/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/abuse-allegations-have-revived-scrutiny-of-bill-clinton--and-divided-democrats/2017/11/17/3d1711c8-cba4-11e7-b244-2d22ac912500_story.html|archive-date=November 19, 2017}}</ref><ref name="mccoy1">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/11/reckoning-with-bill-clintons-sex-crimes/545729|title=Bill Clinton: A Reckoning|first=Caitlin|last=Flanagan|website=The Atlantic|date=November 13, 2017|access-date=November 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118231945/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/11/reckoning-with-bill-clintons-sex-crimes/545729/|archive-date=November 18, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/17/politics/kirsten-gillibrand-bill-clinton-democrats/index.html|title=Should Democrats turn their backs on Bill Clinton?|first=Z. Byron|last=Wolf|work=CNN|date=November 17, 2017|access-date=November 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119055217/https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/11/17/politics/kirsten-gillibrand-bill-clinton-democrats/index.html|archive-date=November 19, 2017}}</ref>

In 1994, [[Paula Jones]] initiated a [[Clinton v. Jones|sexual harassment lawsuit]] against Clinton, claiming he had made unwanted advances towards her in 1991; Clinton denied the allegations. In April 1998, the case was initially dismissed by Judge [[Susan Webber Wright]] on the grounds that it lacked legal merit.<ref name="JO#$">{{Cite news | url=https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/04/02/clinton.jones.reax/ | title=Clinton Welcomes Jones Decision; Appeal Likely | date=April 2, 1998 | work=CNN | access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref> Jones appealed Webber Wright's ruling, and her suit gained traction following Clinton's admission to having an affair with Monica Lewinsky in August 1998.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/jonesappeal073198.htm | title=Text of Jones's Appeal |date = July 31, 1998 | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=August 25, 2010}}</ref> In 1998, lawyers for Paula Jones released court documents that alleged a pattern of sexual harassment by Clinton when he was Governor of Arkansas. [[Robert S. Bennett]], Clinton's main lawyer for the case, called the filing "a pack of lies" and "an organized campaign to smear the President of the United States" funded by Clinton's political enemies.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Francis X. | last=Clines | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/14/us/testing-president-accuser-jones-lawyers-issue-files-alleging-clinton-pattern.html | title=Testing of a President: The Accuser; Jones Lawyers Issue Files Alleging Clinton Pattern of Harassment of Women | work=The New York Times | date=March 14, 1998 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> In October 1998, Clinton's attorneys tentatively offered $700,000 to settle the case, which was then the $800,000 which Jones' lawyers sought.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-oct-17-mn-33462-story.html|title=Paula Jones to Get $200,000 of Settlement|first=Robert L.|last=Jackson|work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 17, 1998|accessdate=March 31, 2024}}</ref> Clinton later agreed to an out-of-court settlement and paid Jones $850,000.<ref name="CO">{{Cite news | url=https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/18/jones/ | title=Appeals court ponders Paula Jones settlement | date=November 18, 1998 | work=CNN | access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref> Bennett said the president made the settlement only so he could end the lawsuit for good and move on with his life.<ref name=clqc>{{cite news | first=Peter | last=Baker | title=Clinton Settles Paula Jones Lawsuit for $850,000 | date=November 14, 1998 | url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/jones111498.htm | newspaper =The Washington Post | access-date = October 27, 2011}}</ref> During the deposition for the Jones lawsuit, which was held at the White House,<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/03/13/jones.v.clinton.docs/clinton | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010601123450/http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/03/13/jones.v.clinton.docs/clinton/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 1, 2001 | title=Deposition of William Jefferson Clinton, January 17, 1998 | work=CNN | date=March 13, 1998 | access-date=September 11, 2011}}</ref> Clinton [[Clinton–Lewinsky scandal|denied having sexual relations]] with Monica Lewinsky—a denial that became the basis for an impeachment charge of perjury.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | chapter=Lewinsky scandal | title=The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | publisher=Columbia University Press | year=2008 | chapter-url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Lewinsky_scandal.aspx | access-date=February 9, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618062707/http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Lewinsky_scandal.aspx | archive-date=June 18, 2009 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In 1998, [[Kathleen Willey]] alleged that Clinton had [[groping|groped]] her in a hallway in 1993. An independent counsel determined Willey gave "false information" to the FBI, inconsistent with sworn testimony related to the Jones allegation.<ref name=wilo9r>{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/03/23/time/willey.html | title=The Lives Of Kathleen Willey | work=CNN | date= March 30, 1998 | access-date =September 11, 2011}}</ref> On March 19, 1998, Julie Hiatt Steele, a friend of Willey, released an [[affidavit]], accusing the former White House aide of asking her to lie to corroborate Ms. Willey's account of being sexually groped by Clinton in the Oval Office.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/19/us/friend-accuses-willey-of-plea-for-her-to-lie.html | title=Friend Accuses Willey for Plea to her to Lie | author=John M. Broder | work=The New York Times | date=March 19, 1998 | access-date=February 15, 2014}}</ref> An attempt by Kenneth Starr to prosecute Steele for making false statements and obstructing justice ended in a mistrial and Starr declined to seek a retrial after Steele sought an investigation against the former independent counsel for prosecutorial misconduct.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00levy| url-access=registration| title=Encyclopedia of the Clinton Presidency | first=Peter | last=Levy | pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00levy/page/328 328]–329 | date=November 30, 2001 | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | isbn=978-0-313-31294-6}}</ref>

Also in 1998, [[Juanita Broaddrick]] alleged that Clinton had raped her in the spring of 1978, although she said she did not remember the exact date.<ref name=CapitalHillBlueWebArchive1>{{cite web | url=http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Feb1999/022599/datelinetranscript022599.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216043650/http://www.capitolhillblue.com/Feb1999/022599/datelinetranscript022599.htm | archive-date=February 16, 2006 | title=Full Transcript of NBC Dateline report on Juanita Broaddrick | date=February 1999}}</ref> To support her charge, Broaddrick notes that she told multiple witnesses in 1978 she had been raped by Clinton, something these witnesses also state in interviews to the press.<ref name="vox.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2016/1/6/10722580/bill-clinton-juanita-broaddrick|title=The rape allegation against Bill Clinton, explained|first=Dylan|last=Matthews|work=Vox|date=January 6, 2016}}</ref> Broaddrick had earlier filed an affidavit denying any "unwelcome sexual advances" and later repeated the denial in a sworn deposition.<ref name="CapitalHillBlueWebArchive1"/> In a 1998 NBC interview wherein she detailed the alleged rape, Broaddrick said she had denied (under oath) being raped only to avoid testifying about the ordeal publicly.<ref name="CapitalHillBlueWebArchive1"/>

The Lewinsky scandal has had an enduring impact on Clinton's legacy, beyond his impeachment in 1998.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/us/politics/bill-clinton-elections-democrats.html|title = No One Wants to Campaign With Bill Clinton Anymore|date = November 2, 2018|work = [[The New York Times]]|last = Lerer|first = Lisa}}</ref> In the wake of the #MeToo movement (which shed light on the widespread prevalence of [[sexual assault]] and [[Sexual harassment|harassment]], especially in the workplace), various commentators and Democratic political leaders, as well as Lewinsky herself, have revisited their view that the Lewinsky affair was consensual, and instead characterized it as an abuse of power or harassment, in light of the power differential between a president and a 22-year-old intern. In 2018, Clinton was asked in several interviews about whether he should have resigned, and he said he had made the right decision in not resigning.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/clinton-i-wouldn-t-have-done-anything-differently-lewinsky-affair-n879721|title=Bill Clinton: I wouldn't have done anything differently with Lewinsky affair|work=NBC News|first=Adam|last=Edelman|date=June 4, 2018|access-date=June 4, 2018}}</ref> During the [[2018 U.S. election|2018 congressional elections]], ''The New York Times'' alleged that having no Democratic candidate for office asking Clinton to campaign with them was a change that attributed to the revised understanding of the Lewinsky scandal.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> However, former DNC interim chair [[Donna Brazile]] previously urged Clinton in November 2017 to campaign during the 2018 midterm elections, in spite of New York U.S. senator [[Kirsten Gillibrand]]'s recent criticism of the Lewinsky scandal.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://theintercept.com/2017/11/22/donna-brazile-bill-clinton-campaign-trail-democrats/|title=Donna Brazile: Bill Clinton Should Hit The Campaign Trail For Democrats In 2018|first=Nicholas|last=Ballasy|publisher=The Intercept|date=November 27, 2017|access-date=December 25, 2020}}</ref>

Clinton also had Relationship between [[Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein|a relationship]] with [[Jeffrey Epstein]] from 1993 to 2003 and made flights on Epstein's plane numerous times from 2002 to 2003 for charity trips and sending him a message in his 2003 [[Jeffrey Epstein's birthday book|birthday greeting album]].<ref name="POLITICO-2017info">{{Cite web |date=2017-05-04 |title=The one weird court case linking Trump, Clinton, and a billionaire pedophile |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/04/jeffrey-epstein-trump-lawsuit-sex-trafficking-237983 |access-date=2025-11-18 |website=POLITICO}}</ref><ref name="The Independent-2025info">{{Cite web |date=2025-08-06 |title=Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein's friendship timeline |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/bill-clinton-jeffrey-epstein-timeline-b2802828.html |access-date=2025-11-18 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Nowell |first=Cecilia |date=2025-07-25 |title=Bill Clinton reportedly sent Jeffrey Epstein note for birthday album |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/24/bill-clinton-jeffrey-epstein-wall-street-journal-report |access-date=2025-11-18 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Palazzolo |first=Khadeeja Safdar and Joe |date=2025-07-24 |title=Exclusive {{!}} Jeffrey Epstein's Birthday Book Included Letters From Bill Clinton, Leon Black |url=https://www.wsj.com/us-news/jeffrey-epstein-birthday-album-included-letters-from-bill-clinton-leon-black-a7cd8cb1 |access-date=2025-11-18 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref>  However, the details surrounding their relationship have been disputed, with Epstein's former lover [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], who is acknowledged to have visited the White House with Epstein when Clinton was President, even being described as the person who was the "glue" of Epstein and Clinton's relationship.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/ghislaine-maxwell-provided-no-incriminating-information-meetings-deputy-ag/story?id=124894271|title=Ghislaine Maxwell provided no incriminating information during meetings with deputy AG on high-profile individuals who interacted with Jeffrey Epstein, transcript shows|first1=James|last1=Hill|first2=Aaron|last2=Katersky|first3=Katherine|last3=Faulders|first4=Alexander|last4=Mallin|publisher=ABC News|date=August 22, 2025|accessdate=November 18, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/live-updates-justice-department-releases-transcript-ghislaine-maxwell-rcna226675|title=Justice Department releases Ghislaine Maxwell interview transcript and audio file|first1=Zoe|last1=Richards|first2=Dareh|last2=Gregorian|first3=Daniel|last3=Arkin|first4=Nnamdi|last4=Egwuonwu|publisher=NBC News|date=August 22, 2025|accessdate=November 18, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Suzi ParkerEmily Shugerman Senior |date=2019-07-24 |title=Jeffrey Epstein Visited Clinton White House Multiple Times in Early '90s |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-visited-clinton-white-house-multiple-times-in-early-90s/ |access-date=2025-08-13 |website=The Daily Beast |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Buchman |first1=Brandi |last2=Delaney |first2=Arthur |date=August 22, 2025 |title=Justice Department Releases Ghislaine Maxwell Interview Transcript |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-transcript-justice-department_n_68a8bc5ae4b0d5177bea6878 |access-date=November 18, 2025 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref> A [[Freedom of Information Act]] request which was made in 2017 showed that Secret Service records found no evidence to back claims Clinton ever visited Epstein's private Caribbean island in [[Little Saint James]].<ref name="POLITICO-2017info" />

=== Alleged affairs ===
Clinton admitted to having extramarital affairs with singer [[Gennifer Flowers]] and [[Monica Lewinsky]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Here's a guide to the sex allegations that Donald Trump may raise in the presidential debate|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Glenn|last=Kessler|date=October 9, 2016|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/10/09/heres-a-guide-to-the-sex-allegations-that-donald-trump-may-raise-in-the-presidential-debate/|access-date=January 8, 2022|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Actress [[Elizabeth Gracen]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=Actress Admits Affair With Clinton|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/actress-admits-affair-with-clinton/|access-date=January 8, 2022|agency=CBS News|date=March 31, 1998}}</ref> Miss Arkansas winner [[Sally Perdue]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Plotz|first=David|date=January 29, 1998|title=All the President's Women|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1998/01/all-the-president-s-women.html|access-date=January 8, 2022|magazine=Slate}}</ref> and Dolly Kyle Browning<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bradner|first=Eric|date=January 8, 2016|title=Bill Clinton's alleged sexual misconduct: Who you need to know|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/politics/bill-clinton-history-2016-election/index.html|access-date=January 8, 2022|agency=CNN}}</ref> all claimed that they had affairs with Clinton during his time as Governor of Arkansas. Browning later sued Clinton, [[Bruce Lindsey]], [[Robert S. Bennett]], and [[Jane Mayer]], alleging they engaged in a conspiracy to attempt to block her from publishing a book loosely based on her relationship with Clinton and tried to defame him. However, Browning's lawsuit was dismissed.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Clinton Sex Allegation Lawsuit Dropped|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=94016&page=1|access-date=January 8, 2022|agency=ABC News|first=Josh|last=Gerstein|date=February 22, 2001}}</ref>

==Post-presidency (2001–present)==
{{Main|Post-presidency of Bill Clinton}}

===Activities until 2008 campaign===

In 2002, Clinton warned that pre-emptive military action against Iraq would have unwelcome consequences,<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0210/02/ip.00.html | title=House Passes Resolution Authorizing Use of Force in Iraq; New Jerssy Supreme Court Hears Argument For, Against New Democrat on Ballot | work=CNN | date=October 2, 2002 | access-date=August 30, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/clinton-urges-caution-over-iraq-as-bush-is-granted-war-powers-607775.html |work=The Independent |location=London |first=Andrew | last=Grice |date=October 3, 2002 |title=Clinton urges caution over Iraq as Bush is granted war powers |access-date=August 30, 2011 | quote="A pre-emptive action today, however well justified, may come back with unwelcome consequences in the future."<br /><br />As someone who had ordered military action before, he said: "I don't care how precise your bombs and your weapons are, when you set them off, innocent people will die."  | url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821084326/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/clinton-urges-caution-over-iraq-as-bush-is-granted-war-powers-607775.html |archive-date=August 21, 2011 }}</ref> and later claimed to have opposed the [[Iraq War]] from the start (though some dispute this).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/bill_clinton_says_he_opposed_iraq_war_from_start | title=Bill Clinton Says He Opposed Iraq War from Start (UPDATED) | publisher=Outside The Beltway | date=November 28, 2007 | access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref> In 2005, Clinton criticized the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]] for its handling of emissions control, while speaking at the [[United Nations Climate Change conference]] in Montreal.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4515898.stm | title=Last-minute climate deals reached | work=BBC News | date=December 10, 2005 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref>

The [[William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park]] in [[Little Rock, Arkansas]], was dedicated in 2004.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4021201.stm | title=Clinton Library open for business | work=BBC News | date=November 18, 2004 | access-date=September 11, 2011}}</ref> Clinton released a best-selling autobiography, ''[[My Life (Clinton autobiography)|My Life]]'', in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news | last=Glaister | first=Dan | title=Oprah Winfrey book deal tops Clinton's $12&nbsp;m | date=May 22, 2006 | work=The Guardian | location=London | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/22/books.media | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> Clinton's [[Official White House portraits of Bill and Hillary Clinton|official White House portrait]], commissioned by the [[White House Historical Association]], was unveiled in June 2004. It was painted by [[Simmie Knox]].<ref name=NYT04>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/15/us/man-in-the-news-from-doodles-to-clintons-simmie-lee-knox.html|title=Man in the News; From Doodles to Clintons - Simmie Lee Knox|date=15 June 2004|work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=23 March 2025}}</ref> In 2007, he released ''[[Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World]]'', which also became a [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' Best Seller]] and garnered positive reviews.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/books/bestseller/0923besthardnonfiction.html | title=Best Sellers | date = September 23, 2007 | work=The New York Times | access-date=September 18, 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130510044404/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/books/bestseller/0923besthardnonfiction.html| archive-date=May 10, 2013| url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Bush and Clinton.jpg|thumb|Former president George H. W. Bush and Clinton in the White House Library, January 2005]]
In the aftermath of the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|2004 Asian tsunami]], U.N. secretary-general [[Kofi Annan]] appointed Clinton to head a relief effort.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6894871 | title=Clinton to be U.N.'s envoy on tsunami relief | date=February 1, 2005 | agency=Associated Press | work = NBC News | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> After [[Hurricane Katrina]], Clinton joined with fellow former president George H. W. Bush to establish the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund in January 2005, and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund in October of that year.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.constitutioncenter.org/libertymedal/recipient_2006.html | title=2006 Philadelphia Liberty Medal Award | publisher=Constitutioncenter.org | access-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref> As part of the tsunami effort, these two ex-presidents appeared in a [[Super Bowl XXXIX]] pre-game show,<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39788-2005Jan26.html | title=Senior Bush, Clinton to Appear at Super Bowl | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Mark | last=Maske | date=January 27, 2005 | access-date=April 26, 2010}}</ref> and traveled to the affected areas.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4281627.stm | title=Bush, Clinton end tsunami visit | work=BBC News | date=February 21, 2005 | access-date=September 11, 2011}}</ref> They also spoke together at the funeral of [[Boris Yeltsin]] in April 2007.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268092,00.html | title=Former Presidents Bush, Clinton Represent U.S. at Boris Yeltsin's Funeral | work=Fox News | date=April 24, 2007 | access-date=May 10, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208142544/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268092,00.html | archive-date=December 8, 2007 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Based on his philanthropic worldview,<ref>{{cite web|first=Jon | last=Meacham |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/12/20/planetary-problem-solver.html |title=Planetary Problem Solver |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=December 20, 2009 |access-date=September 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816140119/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/12/20/planetary-problem-solver.html |archive-date=August 16, 2011 }}</ref> Clinton created the [[William J. Clinton Foundation]] to address issues of global importance. This foundation includes the Clinton Foundation HIV and AIDS Initiative (CHAI), which strives to combat that disease, and has worked with the Australian government toward that end. The [[Clinton Foundation|Clinton Global Initiative]] (CGI), begun by the Clinton Foundation in 2005, attempts to address world problems such as global [[public health]], poverty alleviation and religious and [[ethnic conflict]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org |title=Clinton Global Initiative |publisher=[[Clinton Foundation|Clinton Global Initiative]] |date=June 19, 2011 |access-date=August 17, 2011 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110807000555/http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/ |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2005, Clinton announced through his foundation an agreement with manufacturers to stop selling sugary drinks in schools.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2006/05/03/383279.html | title=William J. Clinton Foundation announces agreement to reduce junk food in schools | publisher=Comcast.net | access-date=August 25, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501105724/http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=%2F2006%2F05%2F03%2F383279.html | archive-date=May 1, 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Clinton's foundation joined with the [[Large Cities Climate Leadership Group]] in 2006 to improve cooperation among those cities, and he met with foreign leaders to promote this initiative.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.clintonfoundation.org/080106-nr-cf-cci-pr-president-clinton-launches-clinton-climate-initiative.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927022059/http://www.clintonfoundation.org/080106-nr-cf-cci-pr-president-clinton-launches-clinton-climate-initiative.htm | archive-date=September 27, 2007 | title=Clinton Foundation and Climate Partnership, Press Release | date=August 1, 2006}}</ref> The foundation has received donations from many governments all over the world, including Asia and the Middle East.<ref name="theage.com.au">{{Cite news | first1=Peter | last1=Baker | first2=Anne | last2=Davies | date=November 18, 2008 | url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/obama-team-turns-scrutiny-on-bill-clinton-20081117-692j.html | title=Obama team turns scrutiny on Bill Clinton | work=[[The Age]] | location=Melbourne | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref> In 2008, Foundation director [[Inder Singh (philanthropist)|Inder Singh]] announced deals to reduce the price of anti-malaria drugs by 30&nbsp;percent in developing nations.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08233/905462-114.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131140152/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08233/905462-114.stm |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 31, 2010 |title=Young man combines expertise in economics and social issues at Clinton Foundation |first=Pohla | last=Smith |date=August 20, 2008 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |access-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref> Clinton also spoke in favor of [[California Proposition 87 (2006)|California Proposition 87]] on [[energy development|alternative energy]], which was voted down.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Peach | last=Indravudh | title=Clinton backs Prop. 87 | date=October 15, 2006 | work=Daily Bruin | publisher=[[UCLA]] | url=http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2006/10/clinton-backs-prop-87 | access-date=August 31, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108163926/http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2006/10/clinton-backs-prop-87 | archive-date=November 8, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===2008 presidential election===
[[File:Bill Clinton 2008 DNC (01) (cropped1).jpg|thumb|Clinton speaking at the [[2008 Democratic National Convention]]]]

During the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008|2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign]], Clinton vigorously advocated on behalf of his wife, Hillary. Through speaking engagements and fundraisers, he was able to raise $10&nbsp;million toward her campaign.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/30/bill-clinton-2007-speech-haul-tops-10-million | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305154926/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/30/bill-clinton-2007-speech-haul-tops-10-million/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 5, 2009 | title=Bill Clinton 2007 speech haul tops $10&nbsp;million | first=Robert | last=Yoon | date=July 30, 2008 | work=CNN | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> Some worried that as an ex-president, he was too active on the trail, too negative to Clinton rival [[Barack Obama]], and alienating his supporters at home and abroad.<ref name="CBS-Tarnish">{{Cite news | author=Vaughn Ververs | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/analysis-bill-clintons-lost-legacy/ | title=Analysis: Bill Clinton's Lost Legacy | work=CBS News | date= January 26, 2008 | access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref> Many were especially critical of him following his remarks in the South Carolina primary, which Obama won. Later in the 2008 primaries, there was some infighting between Bill and Hillary's staffs, especially in Pennsylvania.<ref name=autogenerated3>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/us/politics/08recon.html | title=The Long Road to a Clinton Exit | work=The New York Times | author=Peter Baker |author2=Jim Rutenberg | date=June 8, 2008 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> Considering Bill's remarks, many thought he could not rally Hillary supporters behind Obama after Obama won the primary.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/08/06/a-catharsis-in-denver.html | date=August 6, 2008 | work=Newsweek | first=Jonathan | last=Alter | title=A Catharsis in Denver? | access-date=September 11, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110110248/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/08/06/a-catharsis-in-denver.html | archive-date=November 10, 2011 }}</ref> Such remarks led to apprehension that the party would be split to the detriment of Obama's election. Fears were allayed August 27, 2008, when Clinton enthusiastically endorsed Obama at the [[2008 Democratic National Convention]], saying all his experience as president assures him that Obama is "ready to lead".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/08/bill_clinton_vouches_for_obama.html |title=Bill Clinton vouches for Obama: now 'ready to lead'. |date=August 28, 2008 |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |first=Lynn | last=Sweet |access-date=August 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017063638/http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/08/bill_clinton_vouches_for_obama.html |archive-date=October 17, 2011 }}</ref> After Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was over, Bill Clinton continued to raise funds to help pay off her campaign debt.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/clinton-turns-to-husbands-charity-to-retire-campaign-debt/ | title=Clinton Turns to Husband's Charity to Retire Campaign Debt | work=Fox News | date=December 24, 2008 | access-date=August 31, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216041228/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/24/clinton-turns-husbands-charity-retire-campaign-debt/ | archive-date=February 16, 2012 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-clinton-raffles-himself-to-pay-hillarys-campaign-debt/ | title=Bill Clinton Raffles Himself to Pay Hillary's Campaign Debt | work=CBS News | date=May 13, 2010 | first=Stephanie | last=Condon | access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref>

===After the 2008 election===
In 2009, Clinton travelled to North Korea on behalf of two American journalists [[2009 imprisonment of American journalists by North Korea|imprisoned]] there. [[Euna Lee]] and [[Laura Ling]] had been imprisoned for illegally entering the country from China.<ref name=BBCDPRK>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8182716.stm | title=Bill Clinton meets N Korea leader | work=BBC News | date=August 4, 2009 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref> [[Jimmy Carter]] had made a similar visit in 1994.<ref name=BBCDPRK /> After Clinton met with North Korean leader [[Kim Jong-il]], Kim issued a pardon.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8184583.stm | title=North Korea pardons US reporters | work=BBC News | date=August 4, 2009 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | first1=Mark | last1=Landler | first2=Peter | last2=Baker | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/world/asia/06korea.html | title=Bill Clinton and Journalists in Emotional Return to U.S. | work=The New York Times | date=August 5, 2009 | access-date=August 30, 2011}}</ref>

Since then, Clinton has been assigned many other diplomatic missions. He was named United Nations [[Special Envoy of the Secretary-General|Special Envoy]] to Haiti in 2009 following a series of hurricanes which caused $1&nbsp;billion in damages.<ref name="haiti">{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8056762.stm | title=Bill Clinton to be UN Haiti envoy | work=BBC News | date=May 19, 2009 | access-date=September 11, 2011}}</ref> Clinton organized a conference with the Inter-American Development Bank, where a new industrial park was discussed in an effort to "build back better".<ref name="Sontag">{{cite news |author=Deborah Sontag |title=Earthquake Relief Where Haiti Wasn't Broken |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/world/americas/earthquake-relief-where-haiti-wasnt-broken.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/world/americas/earthquake-relief-where-haiti-wasnt-broken.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 5, 2012 |access-date=August 24, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In response to the [[2010 Haiti earthquake]], U.S. president Barack Obama announced that Clinton and George W. Bush would coordinate efforts to raise funds for Haiti's recovery.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/16/presidents-clinton-bush-lead-effort-to-raise-funds-for-haiti | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117211525/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/16/presidents-clinton-bush-lead-effort-to-raise-funds-for-haiti/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 17, 2010 | title=Presidents Clinton, Bush lead effort to raise funds for Haiti | work=CNN | date=January 16, 2010 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref> Funds began pouring into Haiti, which led to funding becoming available for Caracol Industrial Park in a part of the country unaffected by the earthquake. While Hillary Clinton was in South Korea, she and [[Cheryl Mills]] worked to convince SAE-A, a large apparel subcontractor, to invest in Haiti despite the company's deep concerns about plans to raise the minimum wage. In the summer of 2010, the South Korean company signed a contract at the U.S. State Department, ensuring that the new industrial park would have a key tenant.<ref name="Sontag"/> In 2010, Clinton announced support of, and delivered the keynote address for, the inauguration of [[NTR plc|NTR]], Ireland's first environmental foundation.<ref>{{cite news | title=Clinton backs NTR's environment foundation | work=[[Irish Independent]] | url=http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/clinton-backs-ntrs-environment-foundation-2089592.html | first=Emmet | last=Oliver | date=March 5, 2010 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=President Bill Clinton Delivers Keynote Address | publisher=NTR Foundation | date=March 4, 2010 | url=http://www.ntr-foundation.org/uploads/documents/press/clinton_event_press_release_March_4_2010.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.ntr-foundation.org/uploads/documents/press/clinton_event_press_release_March_4_2010.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live | access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref> At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Clinton gave a widely praised speech nominating Barack Obama.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/06/opinion/opinion-roundup-clinton/index.html | title =Bill Clinton brings it for Obama | publisher =CNN | date =September 6, 2012}}</ref>

===2016 presidential election and after===
[[File:Bill Clinton (25881799091).jpg|thumb|Clinton campaigning at an election rally for his wife Hillary who was running for President of the United States, 2016]]

During the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]], Clinton again encouraged voters to support Hillary, and made appearances speaking on the campaign trail.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.wwaytv3.com/2016/10/26/bill-clinton-rallies-for-hillary-in-wilmington/ | title=Bill Clinton Rallies for Hillary in Wilmington | publisher=WWAY News | date=October 26, 2016 | access-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref> In a series of tweets, then-president-elect [[Donald Trump]] criticized his ability to get people out to vote.<ref name="CBS">{{Cite news | first=Rebecca |last=Shabad | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-goes-after-bill-clinton-hillary-clinton/ | title=Trump goes after Bill Clinton over post-election comments | agency=CBS News | date= December 20, 2016 | access-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref> Clinton served as a member of the electoral college for the state of New York. He voted for the Democratic ticket consisting of his wife Hillary and her running-mate [[Tim Kaine]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mahoney|first=Bill|title=Electoral delegate Bill Clinton: 'Never cast a vote I was prouder of'|url=https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2016/12/electoral-delegate-bill-clinton-never-cast-a-vote-i-was-prouder-of-108194|access-date=November 10, 2020|newspaper=Politico}}</ref>

On September 7, 2017, Clinton partnered with former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama to work with [[One America Appeal]] to help the victims of [[Hurricane Harvey]] and [[Hurricane Irma]] in the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] and [[Texas]] communities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/349993-former-presidents-add-irma-recovery-to-fundraising-appeal/|title=Former presidents fundraise for Irma disaster relief|last=Shelbourne|first=Mallory|date=September 10, 2017|newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date=September 11, 2017}}</ref>

[[File:P20230202CS-0020 (52681371148) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Clinton with Vice President [[Kamala Harris]] and President [[Joe Biden]] in February 2023]]
In [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]], Clinton again served as a member of the United States Electoral College from New York, casting his vote for the successful Democratic ticket of [[Joe Biden]] and [[Kamala Harris]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Electoral College members from New York, 2020 |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Electoral_College_members_from_New_York,_2020 |agency=[[Ballotpedia]] |access-date=January 2, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Jon |title=Clintons cast first ballots as New York Electoral College votes for Joe Biden |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/albany/2020/12/14/new-york-electoral-college-vote-joe-biden-clinton/6538629002/ |newspaper=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |access-date=January 2, 2021 |date=December 14, 2020}}</ref>

Clinton was one of the first public figures to endorse Biden's re-election campaign in [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]], with him appearing in interviews and fundraisers with various politicians and national figures. He was also one of the most notable politicians to defend Biden after his critically maligned [[2024 Joe Biden–Donald Trump presidential debate|first presidential debate]] on June 27, with him stating that "bad debate nights happen" and continued to press support for him despite increasing demand from the public and Democratic party requesting for him to drop out.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Picciotto |first1=Rebecca |title=Obama, Clinton excuse Biden's debate performance to fend off Democratic meltdown: 'Bad debate nights happen' |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/29/obama-clinton-excuse-biden-trump-debate.html|newspaper=[[CNBC]] |access-date=June 29, 2024 |date=November 7, 2024}}</ref> After Biden [[Withdrawal of Joe Biden from the 2024 United States presidential election|withdrew his candidacy]] and vice president Harris replaced him on the ticket, both Bill and Hillary Clinton endorsed her and praised Biden for his work in public service. Clinton later gave a critically acclaimed speech at the [[2024 Democratic National Convention|2024 DNC]], where he emphasized the Democratic Party's record on job creation and Harris' career achievements as a prosecutor, senator, and vice president.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mandler |first1=C |title=WATCH: Former President Bill Clinton rallies the crowd around 'clear choice' in November |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/08/21/g-s1-18611/bill-clinton-democratic-national-convention|newspaper=[[NPR]] |access-date=August 21, 2024 |date=November 7, 2024}}</ref>

He later stumped for Harris at various battleground states, where he met with supporters in small towns and at campaign stops. At a stop in Michigan, Clinton caused a backlash by criticizing Arab and Muslim Americans hesitant to support Harris due to her pro-Israeli position, stating Israel had been "forced" to kill civilians during [[Gaza war|its war in Gaza]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bill Clinton criticised for saying Israel 'forced' to kill Gaza civilians |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/31/bill-clinton-criticised-for-saying-israel-forced-to-kill-gaza-civilians |website=Al Jazeera English |access-date=1 November 2024}}</ref> His comments led the [[Institute for Middle East Understanding]] to state, "Bill Clinton’s racist and ahistorical remarks were meant to justify the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land. The Harris campaign is doing itself no favors attaching itself to that kind of hateful rhetoric".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Karanth |first1=Sanjana |title=Bill Clinton Justifies The Mass Killings Of Palestinians In Racist Michigan Speech |url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/bill-clinton-justifies-mass-killings-000813500.html |website=Yahoo! News |date=November 2024 |publisher=HuffPost |access-date=1 November 2024}}</ref> He expanded on his comments in an interview with CNN shortly after, stating that he was trying to appeal to both sides of the issue and highlighted his work with Arafat and Rabin in the Oslo Occords, although his response still received sharp condemnation from Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian-Americans.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dovere |first1=Edward-Isaac |title=CNN Exclusive: Bill Clinton has hopes and fears on what comes after 2024 – for the country, the party and himself|date=November 3, 2024 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/03/politics/bill-clinton-cnn-interview/index.html|publisher=CNN |access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref>

After Harris lost the general election to Trump, Clinton's remarks were brought up by critics and pundits, who stated that they were the reason why Harris lost support among Arab-American voters and why she fared poorly in the Muslim-populated cities of [[Dearborn, Michigan|Dearborn]] and [[Hamtramck, Michigan|Hamtramck]] when compared to previous Democratic candidates.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harb |first1=Ali |title='We warned you,' Arab Americans in Michigan tell Kamala Harris|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/6/we-warned-you-arab-americans-in-michigan-tell-kamala-harris|publisher=Aljazeera |access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref> Critics also questioned his relevance to the modern Democratic Party, with pundits stating that his centrist policies and promotion of candidates who align with his views no longer work with a party that has tried to rebrand itself after losing support amongst progressive and populist supporters.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mandel |first1=Seth |title=Bill Clinton in Winter|date=November 4, 2024 |url=https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/bill-clinton-in-winter/|publisher=Commentary |access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref> After the election, he and Hillary released a statement congratulating president-elect Trump and vice president-elect [[JD Vance]], while stating that Harris and her running-mate [[Tim Walz]] ran a "positive, forward-looking campaign to be proud of".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fortinsky |first1=Sarah |title=Clintons hope Trump, Vance 'will govern for all of us'|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4978399-bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-kamala-harris-donald-trump-jd-vance-2024-election/|work=The Hill |date=November 7, 2024 |access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref>

Clinton's second volume of memoirs, ''[[Citizen (Bill Clinton book)|Citizen: My Life After the White House]]'', was published in November 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Conrad |first1=Peter |title=Citizen: My Life After the White House by Bill Clinton review – convivial without being confidential |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/24/citizen-my-life-after-the-white-house-by-bill-clinton-review- |access-date=7 November 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=24 November 2024}}</ref>

===Wealth===

The Clintons incurred several million dollars in legal bills during his presidency, which were paid off four years after he left office.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/clintons-pay-off-legal-bills | title=Clintons Pay Off Legal Bills | website=[[CBS News]] | date=June 14, 2005 | access-date=March 28, 2015}}</ref> Bill and Hillary Clinton have each earned millions of dollars from book publishing.<ref name="NYT-2008-04-05">{{cite news | last=McIntire | first=Mike | title=Clintons made $109 Million in Last 8 Years | date=April 5, 2008 | work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/us/politics/05clintons.html}}</ref> In 2016, ''[[Forbes]]'' reported Bill and Hillary Clinton made about $240{{nbsp}}million in the 15{{nbsp}}years from January 2001, to December 2015, (mostly from paid speeches, business consulting and book-writing).<ref>{{cite news | last=Alexander | first=Dan | title=How Bill And Hillary Clinton Made $240 Million In The Last 15 Years | work=Forbes | date=November 8, 2016 | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2016/11/08/how-bill-house-hillary-clinton-made-240-million-how-much-earnings-rich-white/ | access-date=July 30, 2019}}</ref> Also in 2016, [[CNN]] reported the Clintons combined to receive more than $153{{nbsp}}million in paid speeches from 2001 until spring 2015.<ref name="CNN-2006-02-06">{{cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/05/politics/hillary-clinton-bill-clinton-paid-speeches/index.html | title=$153 million in Bill and Hillary Clinton speaking fees, documented |first=Robert | last=Yoon |work=CNN| date=February 6, 2016 | access-date= February 7, 2016}}</ref> In May 2015, ''[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]'' reported that Bill and Hillary Clinton have made more than $25{{nbsp}}million in speaking fees since the start of 2014, and that Hillary Clinton also made $5{{nbsp}}million or more from her book, ''[[Hard Choices]]'', during the same time period.<ref>Ben Kamisar, [https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/dem-primaries/242291-clintons-made-more-than-25-million-in-speaking-fees-since/ Clintons earned more than $25 million for speeches since 2014] (May 15, 2015), ''[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]''</ref> In July 2014, ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' reported that at the end of 2012, the Clintons were worth between $5{{nbsp}}million and $25.5{{nbsp}}million, and that in 2012 (the last year they were required to disclose the information) the Clintons made between $16 and $17{{nbsp}}million, mostly from speaking fees earned by the former president.<ref>{{cite news | last1=Mullins | first1=Brody | last2=Nicholas | first2=Peter | last3=Ballhaus | first3=Rebecca | title=The Bill and Hillary Clinton Money Machine Taps Corporate Cash | work=The Wall Street Journal | date=July 1, 2014 | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bill-and-hillary-clinton-money-machine-taps-corporate-cash-1404268205 | access-date=July 30, 2019 | url-access=subscription}}</ref> Clinton earned more than $104{{nbsp}}million from paid speeches between 2001 and 2012.<ref name="bloomberg.com">{{cite news|last1=Epstein|first1=Jennifer | title=Clinton Family Speeches Netted as Much as $26 Million for Foundation |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=May 22, 2015 | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-22/clinton-foundation-discloses-speech-fees | publisher=Bloomberg News | access-date=May 23, 2015}}</ref> In June 2014, ABC News and ''The Washington Post'' reported that Bill Clinton has made more than $100{{nbsp}}million giving paid speeches since leaving public office, and in 2008, ''The New York Times'' reported that the Clintons' income tax returns<ref>(linked in the NYT article)</ref> show they made $109{{nbsp}}million in the eight years from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2007, including almost $92{{nbsp}}million from his speaking and book-writing.<ref name="NYT-2008-04-05" /><ref name="washingtonpost-2014-06-26">{{cite news | first1=Philip | last1=Rucker | first2=Tom | last2=Hamburger | first3=Alexander | last3=Becker | title=How the Clintons went from 'dead broke' to rich, with $104.9 million for ex-president's speaking fees | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=June 26, 2014 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-the-clintons-went-from-dead-broke-to-rich-bill-earned-1049-million-for-speeches/2014/06/26/8fa0b372-fd3a-11e3-8176-f2c941cf35f1_story.html | access-date=July 30, 2019}}</ref><ref name="ABC-News-2014-06-09">{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-defends-high-dollar-speaking-fees/story?id=24052962|title=Hillary Clinton Defends High-Dollar Speaking Fees|date=June 9, 2014|publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] and [[Good Morning America]]|access-date=October 5, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Salameh|last=Nematt|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2008/11/17/bills-500000-kuwait-lecture.html|title=Bill's $500,000 Kuwait Lecture|date=November 17, 2008|website=[[The Daily Beast]]}}</ref>

Bill Clinton has given dozens of paid speeches each year since leaving office in 2001, mostly to corporations and philanthropic groups in North America and Europe; he often earned $100,000 to $300,000 per speech.<ref name="CNN-2006-02-06" /><ref>{{cite news|first=Josh|last=Gerstein|title=Clinton Eligible, Once Again, To Practice Law|newspaper=[[The New York Sun]]|date=January 17, 2006|url=http://www.nysun.com/article/25965?page_no=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/us/politics/10clinton.html | title=Bill Clinton Ponders a Role as First Gentleman | work=[[The New York Times]] | first=Patrick | last=Healy | date=May 10, 2007 | access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Daniel |last=Bentley |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2300374.ece |title=Forty Million Dollar Bill, Independent, 2007 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=February 24, 2007 |access-date=May 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015064614/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2300374.ece |archive-date=October 15, 2007 }}</ref> Russian investment bank with ties to the Kremlin paid Clinton $500,000 for a speech in [[Moscow]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html|title=Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal|first1=Jo|last1=Becker|first2=Mike|last2=McIntire|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/clinton-foundation-received-millions-uranium-132500796.html|first1=Colin|last1=Campbell|first2=Pamela|last2=Engel|title=The Clinton Foundation received millions from investors as Putin took over 20% of US uranium deposits|date=April 23, 2015|website=[[Yahoo! Finance]]}}</ref> Hillary Clinton said she and Bill came out of the White House financially "broke" and in debt, especially due to large legal fees incurred during their years in the White House. "We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea's education". She added, "Bill has worked really hard&nbsp;... we had to pay off all our debts&nbsp;... he had to make double the money because of, obviously, taxes; and then pay off the debts, and get us houses, and take care of family members".<ref name="ABC-News-2014-06-09" />

== Personal life ==
At the age of 10, he was baptized at Park Place [[Baptist]] Church in [[Hot Springs, Arkansas]].<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Philip|last=Yancey|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1994/april-25/riddle-of-bill-clintons-faith.html|title=The Riddle of Bill Clinton's Faith|magazine=[[Christianity Today]]|date=April 25, 1994}}</ref> When he became president in 1993, he became a member of [[Foundry United Methodist Church]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] with his wife, a [[Methodist]].<ref>Paul Galloway, [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-02-10-9902100268-story.html The President's Pastor], chicagotribune.com, USA, Feb 10, 1999</ref>

On October 11, 1975, in [[Fayetteville, Arkansas]], he married [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary Rodham]], whom he met while studying at [[Yale University]]. They had [[Chelsea Clinton]], their only child, on February 27, 1980.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bill-Clinton Bill Clinton], britannica.com, USA, retrieved April 30, 2021</ref> He is the maternal grandfather to Chelsea's three children.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Happy Anniversary, Hillary and Bill Clinton! Looking Back at Their 1975 Wedding in Photos|url=https://www.brides.com/story/tbt-hillary-clinton-wedding-photos|access-date=September 22, 2021|website=Brides}}</ref>

=== Health ===
In September 2004, Clinton underwent quadruple bypass surgery.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8511817.stm | work=BBC News | title=Bill Clinton 'in good spirits' after heart procedure | date=February 12, 2010 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref> In March 2005, he again underwent surgery, this time for a partially collapsed lung.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7127096 | title=Clinton surgery called successful | agency=Associated Press | work=NBC News | date=March 10, 2005 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref> On February 11, 2010, he was rushed to [[Columbia University Irving Medical Center|New York-Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital]] in Manhattan after complaining of chest pains, and he had two [[coronary stent]]s implanted in his heart.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk" /><ref>{{Cite news | first=Mark | last=Egan | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-clinton-idUSTRE61A5L020100211 | title=Bill Clinton in good spirits after heart procedure | work=Reuters | date=February 11, 2010 | access-date=September 11, 2011 | archive-date=July 26, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726194837/http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/11/us-clinton-idUSTRE61A5L020100211 | url-status=live }}</ref> After this procedure, Clinton adopted a plant-based whole foods ([[vegan]]) diet, which had been recommended by doctors [[Dean Ornish]] and [[Caldwell Esselstyn]].<ref name="cnn2011">{{cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/18/bill.clinton.diet.vegan/index.html | title=From omnivore to vegan: The dietary education of Bill Clinton | first=David S.|last=Martin | date=August 18, 2011 | work=CNN | access-date=September 17, 2012}}</ref> He has since incorporated fish and lean animal flesh at the suggestion of [[Mark Hyman (doctor)|Mark Hyman]], a proponent of the [[pseudoscientific]] ethos of [[functional medicine]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Heasman|first=Chris|date=April 16, 2018|title=This Is What Hillary Clinton Eats|url=https://www.mashed.com/118104/hillary-clinton-eats/|access-date=February 18, 2021|website=[[Mashed.com]]}}</ref> As a result, he is no longer strictly on a plant-based diet.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brodwin|first=Erin|title=What the author of 'Eat Fat, Get Thin' eats — and avoids — every day|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/eat-fat-get-thin-diet-clintons-doctor-2017-5|access-date=February 18, 2021|website=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref>

In October 2021, Clinton was treated for [[sepsis]] at the [[University of California, Irvine Medical Center]].<ref>{{cite news|url = https://thehill.com/homenews/news/576882-bill-clinton-hospitalized-with-sepsis/|title = Bill Clinton hospitalized with sepsis|work = [[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date = October 14, 2021|access-date = October 14, 2021|last = Choi|first = Joseph}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://apnews.com/article/bill-clinton-released-hospital-98cfbab9c7cb593a8449d4ca8c916cbf|title = Bill Clinton back home after hospitalization from infection|last = Daley|first = Haven|date= October 17, 2021|access-date = October 19, 2021|work = [[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gangel |first=Jamie |date=2021-10-15 |title=Former President Bill Clinton hospitalized for infection but 'on the mend' {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/politics/bill-clinton-hospitalized/index.html |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-10-17 |title=Former President Bill Clinton released from hospital {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/17/politics/bill-clinton-released-hospital-infection/index.html |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=[[CNN Politics]] |language=en}}</ref> In December 2022, Clinton tested positive for [[COVID-19]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Former U.S. President Clinton tests positive for COVID |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bill-clinton-tests-positive-covid-tweet-2022-11-30/ |access-date=December 1, 2022 |work=[[Reuters]] |date=November 30, 2022}}</ref> In December 2024, Clinton was hospitalized after developing a fever at the [[MedStar Georgetown University Hospital]] in Washington D.C.<ref>{{cite news |title=Former President Bill Clinton is in the hospital after developing a fever, spokesperson says |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/23/politics/bill-clinton-hospital-fever/index.html |access-date=December 23, 2024 |work=CNN |date=December 23, 2024|last = Zeleny|first = Jeff}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zeleny |first=Jeff |date=2024-12-23 |title=Former President Bill Clinton is in the hospital after developing a fever, spokesperson says {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/23/politics/bill-clinton-hospital-fever |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | last1=Dovere | first1=Edward-Isaac |last2=Fossum |first2=Sam  |date=2024-12-24 |title=Former President Bill Clinton discharged from hospital after being treated for flu {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/24/politics/bill-clinton-hospital-flu |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> In August 2025, he was seen with a portable [[defibrillation|defibrillator]].<ref>{{Cite web | last1=Wolf | first1=Rachel |date=2025-08-30 |title=Bill Clinton seen leaving airport with defibrillator, sparking health fears |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/bill-clinton-seen-leaving-airport-defibrillator-sparking-health-fears |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=Fox News |language=en}}</ref>

==Accolades==
{{Main|List of awards and honors received by Bill Clinton}}

[[File:Bill clinton medal of freedom.jpg|thumb|Clinton receiving the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] from [[Barack Obama]], 2013]]

Several colleges and universities have awarded Clinton honorary degrees.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://faccoun.unc.edu/awards/honorary-degrees | title=Honorary Degrees | year=1993 | publisher=UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Faculty Governance | access-date=August 31, 2011 | archive-date=February 9, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209142252/http://faccoun.unc.edu/awards/honorary-degrees/ | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tulane.edu/newwave/cornerpics/051906_grads.html |title=President Bill Clinton with an honorary doctorate of law |publisher=Tulane University |date=May 19, 2006 |access-date=August 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808192350/http://www.tulane.edu/newwave/cornerpics/051906_grads.html |archive-date=August 8, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=45649 | title=Clinton to address graduates, Honorary doctorate will be bestowed | publisher=RIT News, Rochester Institute of Technology | date=May 18, 2007 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Hughes|first=Tracey|date=May 24, 1980|title=GU Honors Statesmen, Scientists, Educators|work=[[The Hoya]]|url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/555085/1980-05-24.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|access-date=September 22, 2021}}</ref> He is an honorary fellow of University College, Oxford, which he attended as a [[Rhodes Scholar]], although he did not complete his studies there.<ref>{{cite news |first=Matthew |last=Hoffman |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/the-bill-clinton-we-knew-at-oxford-apart-from-smoking-dope-and-not-inhaling-what-else-did-he-learn-1556769.html |title=The Bill Clinton we knew at Oxford: Apart from smoking dope (and not inhaling), what else did he learn over here? College friends share their memories with Matthew Hoffman |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=October 27, 2016 |archive-date=June 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623195343/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/the-bill-clinton-we-knew-at-oxford-apart-from-smoking-dope-and-not-inhaling-what-else-did-he-learn-1556769.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/content/honorary-fellows |title=www.univ.ox.ac.uk |publisher=University of Oxford |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313140432/http://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/content/honorary-fellows |archive-date=March 13, 2016 }}</ref> Schools have been named for Clinton,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.compton.k12.ca.us/www/schoolsites/showschool.aspx?id=13900 | title=Clinton Elementary | publisher=Compton Unified School District | access-date=August 31, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927162333/http://www.compton.k12.ca.us/www/schoolsites/showschool.aspx?id=13900 | archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lausd.net/Clinton_MS | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719002854/http://www.lausd.net/Clinton_MS/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 19, 2011 | title=William Jefferson Clinton Middle School | publisher=Los Angeles Unified School District | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.clintonschool.uasys.edu | title=Clinton School of Public service | publisher=University of Arkansas | access-date=August 31, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720063224/http://clintonschool.uasys.edu/ | archive-date=July 20, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref> and statues have been built of him.<ref name=WJCstatue>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8336789.stm | title=Kosovo unveils Clinton's statue | work=BBC News | date=November 1, 2009 | access-date=November 2, 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091102101327/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8336789.stm| archive-date= November 2, 2009 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-serbia-kosovo-clinton-idUSL2316200920070523 | title=Kosovo to honor Bill Clinton with statue | work=Reuters | date=May 23, 2007 | access-date=September 11, 2011 | archive-date=August 5, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805022616/http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/05/23/us-serbia-kosovo-clinton-idUSL2316200920070523 | url-status=live }}</ref> He was presented with the [[Medal for Distinguished Public Service]] in 2001.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.defense.gov/photos/newsphoto.aspx?newsphotoid=3174 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302094635/http://www.defense.gov/photos/newsphoto.aspx?newsphotoid=3174 | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 2, 2010 | title=Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen presents the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service to President Bill Clinton in a ceremonial farewell at Fort Myer, Va., on Jan. 5, 2001. | publisher=U.S. Department of Defense | access-date=September 1, 2011}}</ref> The [[Clinton Presidential Center]] was opened in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2001.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/28/us/dinner-for-a-presidential-library-contributions-welcome.html | title=Dinner for a Presidential Library, Contributions Welcome | date=June 28, 1999 | last=Van Natta | first=Don Jr. | work=The New York Times | access-date=December 17, 2009}}</ref>

The Republic of Kosovo, in gratitude for his help during the [[Kosovo War]], renamed a major street in the capital city of [[Pristina]] as [[Bill Clinton Boulevard]] and added a Clinton statue.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/statue-watch-bill-clinton-edition | title=Statue Watch: Bill Clinton Edition | first=Mike | last=Nizza | date=May 23, 2007 | work=The New York Times | access-date=October 8, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/world/europe/17kosovo.html | title=Kosovo Struggles to Forge an Identity | first=Dan | last=Bilefsky | date=December 17, 2007 | work = [[The New York Times]] | access-date=October 8, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/world/europe/09iht-kosovo.1.8653760.html | title=Kosovo: Forging an identity on eve of new era | first=Dan | last=Bilefsky | date=December 9, 2007 | work = [[The New York Times]] | access-date=October 8, 2012}}</ref> In 2011, Haitian president [[Michel Martelly]] awarded Clinton with the [[National Order of Honour and Merit]] to the rank of Grand Cross "for his various initiatives in Haiti and especially his high contribution to the reconstruction of the country after the earthquake of January 12, 2010".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3429-haiti-social-bill-clinton-receives-the-national-order-of-honor-and-merit-to-the-rank-grand-cross-gold-plated.html |title=Haiti—Social: Bill Clinton receives the National Order of Honor and Merit to the rank Grand Cross gold plated |editor=Press |date=July 22, 2011 |publisher=Haiti Libre |access-date=March 14, 2016}}</ref>

Clinton was selected as ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'s}} "[[Time Person of the Year|Man of the Year]]" in 1992,<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19930104,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530071708/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19930104,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=May 30, 2007 | title=Bill Clinton, Man of the Year | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | author=Elizabeth P. Valk | date=January 4, 1993 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref> and again in 1998, along with [[Ken Starr]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19981228,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114194210/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19981228,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 14, 2007 | title=Kenneth Starr & Bill Clinton, Men of the Year | newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | first=Nancy | last=Gibbs | date=December 28, 1998 | access-date=August 31, 2011}}</ref> From a poll conducted of the American people in December 1999, Clinton was among eighteen included in [[Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century]].<ref>{{cite book | title = The Gallup Poll 1999 | url = https://archive.org/details/galluppollcumula0000gall | url-access = registration | publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc | year = 1999 | location = Wilmington, Del. | pages = [https://archive.org/details/galluppollcumula0000gall/page/248 248–249]}}</ref> In 2001, Clinton received the [[NAACP Image Award – President's Award|NAACP President's Award]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Braxton |first=Greg |date=March 4, 2001 |title=NAACP Honors, Cheers Clinton |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-mar-04-me-33265-story.html |access-date=February 28, 2022 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> He has also been honored with a J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding,<ref>{{Cite news| url =http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-506513 | title=President Bill Clinton Biography | author=AmericaLive | work=CNN |date =October 22, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151004095341/http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-506513|archive-date=October 4, 2015}}</ref> a [[TED (conference)|TED]] Prize,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/2007/04/2007_ted_prize__2.html | title=2007 TED Prize winner Bill Clinton on TEDTalks | publisher=TED Blog | date=April 4, 2007 | access-date=August 31, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728122424/http://tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/2007/04/2007_ted_prize__2.html | archive-date=July 28, 2011 }}</ref> and was named as an Honorary [[GLAAD Media Award]] recipient for his work as an advocate for the LGBT community.<ref name="24-GLAAD-LA">{{cite web | url=http://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/losangeles | title=24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards—Los Angeles | publisher=[[GLAAD]] | access-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref>

Clinton, along with [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] and [[Sophia Loren]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Wolf Tracks |url=https://russiannationalorchestra.org/recordings/wolf-tracks/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222133436/http://russiannationalorchestra.org/recordings/wolf-tracks/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 22, 2015 |agency=Russian National Orchestra |access-date=August 1, 2020 }}</ref> received the [[46th Annual Grammy Awards|2003 Grammy Award]] for [[Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children|Best Spoken Word Album for Children]] for ''[[Wolf Tracks and Peter and the Wolf]]''.<ref name=GRAMMY>{{cite web |title=Bill Clinton |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/bill-clinton/1590 |agency=Grammy Awards |access-date=August 1, 2020 |date=November 19, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Grammy Award Winners |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/music/08grammy-list.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=August 1, 2020}}</ref> The [[audiobook]] edition of his autobiography, [[My Life (Clinton autobiography)|''My Life'']], read by Clinton himself, won the [[47th Annual Grammy Awards|2005 Grammy Award]] for [[Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album|Best Spoken Word Album]],<ref name=GRAMMY/> as well as the [[Audie Award]] as the Audiobook of the Year.<ref>{{cite web |title=2005 AUDIE AWARDS® |url=https://www.audiopub.org/2005-audies |publisher=[[Audio Publishers Association]] |access-date=January 13, 2023 |archive-date=January 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114235616/https://www.audiopub.org/2005-audies |url-status=dead }}</ref> Clinton has two more Grammy nominations for his audiobooks: ''[[Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World]]'' in [[50th Annual Grammy Awards|2007]] and ''[[Back to Work (book)|Back to Work]]'' in [[55th Annual Grammy Awards|2012]].<ref name=GRAMMY/>

President Obama awarded Clinton the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] on November 20, 2013.<ref name="Medal of Honor">{{cite news |first1=David |last1=Jackson  | title=Obama awards Medal of Freedom to Clinton, Oprah, others | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/11/20/obama-clinton-oprah-winfrey-dean-smith-ernie-banks/3650113 | work=[[USA Today]]| date=November 20, 2013 | access-date=November 20, 2013}}</ref>

==See also==
<!-- PLEASE KEEP ENTRIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. -->
* [[Clinton family]]
* [[Clinton School of Public Service]]
* [[Efforts to impeach Bill Clinton]]
* [[Electoral history of Bill Clinton]]
* [[Gun control policy of the Clinton Administration]]
* [[List of presidents of the United States]]
* [[List of presidents of the United States by previous experience]]
<!-- PLEASE KEEP ENTRIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. -->

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Main|Bibliography of Bill Clinton}}

===Primary sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Clinton, Bill. (with [[Al Gore]]). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070621005829/http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/22/4f/40.pdf Science in the National Interest].'' Washington, D.C.: The White House, August 1994.
* --- (with Al Gore). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080316091133/http://www.gcrio.org/USCCAP/toc.html The Climate Change Action Plan].'' Washington, D.C.: The White House, October 1993.
* [[Taylor Branch]] ''The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President.'' (2009) Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4333-6}}
* ''Official Congressional Record Impeachment Set:&nbsp;... Containing the Procedures for Implementing the Articles of Impeachment and the Proceedings of the Impeachment Trial of President William Jefferson Clinton.'' Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 1999.
* ''Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, William J. Clinton.'' Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1994–2002.
* [[S. Daniel Abraham]] ''[[Peace Is Possible]]'', foreword by Bill Clinton
{{Refend}}

===Popular books===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* [[James Bovard]] ''Feeling Your Pain: The Explosion and Abuse of Government Power in the Clinton-Gore Years'' (2000) {{ISBN|978-0-312-23082-1}}
* [[Joe Conason]] and [[Gene Lyons]] ''The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton'' (2003) {{ISBN|978-0-312-27319-4}}
* [[Elizabeth Drew]] ''On the Edge: The Clinton Presidency'' (1994) {{ISBN|978-0-671-87147-5}}
* [[David Gergen]] ''Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership.'' (2000) {{ISBN|978-0-684-82663-9}}
* [[Nigel Hamilton (author)|Nigel Hamilton]] ''Bill Clinton: An American Journey'' (2003) {{ISBN|978-0-375-50610-9}}
* [[Christopher Hitchens]] ''No One Left to Lie to: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton'' (1999) {{ISBN|978-1-85984-736-7}}
* [[Michael Isikoff]] ''Uncovering Clinton: A Reporter's Story'' (1999) {{ISBN|978-0-609-60393-2}}
* [[Mark Katz (speechwriter)|Mark Katz]] ''Clinton and Me: A Real-Life Political Comedy'' (2004) {{ISBN|978-0-7868-6949-7}}
* [[David Maraniss]] ''The Clinton Enigma: A Four and a Half Minute Speech Reveals This President's Entire Life'' (1998) {{ISBN|978-0-684-86296-5}}
* [[Dick Morris]] with Eileen McGann ''Because He Could'' (2004) {{ISBN|978-0-06-078415-7}}
* [[Richard Posner|Richard A. Posner]] ''An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton'' (1999) {{ISBN|978-0-674-00080-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Renshon |first=Stanley |title=High Hopes: Bill Clinton and the Politics of Ambition |author-link=Stanley Renshon |year=1996 |isbn=9780814776629 |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |url=https://opensquare.nyupress.org/books/9780814769423/}}
* Mark J. Rozell ''The Clinton Scandal and the Future of American Government'' (2000) {{ISBN|978-0-87840-777-4}}
* Timperlake, Edward, and William C. Triplett II ''Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised U.S. Security for Chinese Cash''. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-89526-333-9}}
* Michael Waldman ''POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words That Defined the Clinton Presidency'' (2000) {{ISBN|978-0-7432-0020-2}}
* Ivory Tower Publishing Company. Achievements of the Clinton Administration: the Complete Legislative and Executive. (1995) {{ISBN|978-0-88032-748-0}}
{{Refend}}

===Scholarly studies===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Campbell, Colin, and Bert A. Rockman, eds. ''The Clinton Legacy'' (Chatham House Pub, 2000)
* {{cite journal |last1=Cohen |first1=Jeffrey E. |title=The Polls: Change and Stability in Public Assessments of Personal Traits, Bill Clinton, 1993-99 |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=December 2001 |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=733–741 |doi=10.1111/j.0000-0000.2001.00197.x}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Cronin |first1=Thomas E. |last2=Genovese |first2=Michael A. |title=President Clinton and Character Questions |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=1998 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=892–897 |id={{Gale|A53409280}} {{ProQuest|215686695}} |jstor=27551947}}
* {{cite journal |id={{Gale|A118274932}} |last1=Davis |first1=John |title=The evolution of American grand strategy and the war on terrorism: Clinton and Bush perspectives |journal=White House Studies |date=September 22, 2003 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=459–477}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Dumbrell |first1=J. |title=Was There a Clinton Doctrine? President Clinton's Foreign Policy Reconsidered |journal=Diplomacy & Statecraft |date=June 2002 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=43–56 |doi=10.1080/714000309 |s2cid=153835555 |url=https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1577431}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=George C. |title=Bill Clinton and His Crisis of Governance |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=1998 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=754–760 |id={{Gale|A53409260}} {{ProQuest|215682224}} |jstor=27551927}}
* {{cite journal |id={{Gale|A86058403}} |last1=Fisher |first1=Patrick |title=Clinton's greatest legislative achievement? The success of the 1993 Budget Reconciliation Bill |journal=White House Studies |date=September 22, 2001 |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=479–496}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Glad |first1=Betty |title=Evaluating Presidential Character |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=1998 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=861–872 |id={{Gale|A53409276}} {{ProQuest|215694887}} |jstor=27551943}}
* Halberstam, David. ''War in a time of peace: Bush, Clinton, and the generals'' (Simon and Schuster, 2001). [https://archive.org/details/warintimeofpeace00halb online]
* Harris, John F. ''The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House'' (2006). [https://archive.org/details/survivorbillclin00harr online]
* Head, Simon. [http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/01/30/clinton-system-donor-machine-2016-election/ The Clinton System] (January 30, 2016), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''
* Hyland, William G. ''Clinton's World: Remaking American Foreign Policy'' (1999) {{ISBN|978-0-275-96396-5}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Jewett |first1=Aubrey W. |last2=Turetzky |first2=Marc D. |title=Stability and Change in President Clinton's Foreign Policy Beliefs, 1993-96 |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=1998 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=638–665 |id={{Gale|A53390302}} {{ProQuest|215688436}} |jstor=27551906}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Claire Jean |title=Managing the Racial Breach: Clinton, Black-White Polarization, and the Race Initiative |journal=Political Science Quarterly |date=2002 |volume=117 |issue=1 |pages=55–79 |doi=10.2307/798094 |jstor=798094}}
* Laham, Nicholas, ''A Lost Cause: Bill Clinton's Campaign for National Health Insurance'' (1996)
* {{cite journal |last1=Lanoue |first1=David J. |last2=Emmert |first2=Craig F. |title=Voting in the Glare of the Spotlight: Representatives' Votes on the Impeachment of President Clinton |journal=Polity |date=1999 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=253–269 |doi=10.2307/3235285 |jstor=3235285 |s2cid=155511442}}
* Levy, Peter B. ''Encyclopedia of the Clinton presidency'' (Greenwood, 2002) [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00levy online]
* {{cite journal |last1=Maurer |first1=Paul J. |title=Media Feeding Frenzies: Press Behavior During Two Clinton Scandals |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=March 1999 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=65–79 |id={{Gale|A54099170}} {{ProQuest|215686228}} |doi=10.1111/1741-5705.00019 |jstor=27551959}}
*  {{cite book |doi=10.7591/9781501706202-006 |chapter=Triangulation: Position and Leadership in Clinton's Domestic Policy |title=42: Inside the Presidency of Bill Clinton |year=2017 |pages=46–76 |isbn=978-1-5017-0620-2 |first1=Bruce F. |last1=Nesmith |first2=Paul J. |last2=Quirk |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scKdDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Nie |first1=Martin A. |title='It's the Environment, Stupid!' Clinton and the Environment |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=1997 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=39–51 |jstor=27551699}}
* {{cite journal |last1=O’Connor |first1=Brendon |title=Policies, Principles, and Polls: Bill Clinton's Third Way Welfare Politics 1992–1996 |journal=Australian Journal of Politics & History |date=September 2002 |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=396–411 |doi=10.1111/1467-8497.00267}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Palmer |first1=David |title='What might have been': Bill Clinton and american political power |journal=Australasian Journal of American Studies |date=2005 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=38–58 |jstor=41416024}}
* Renshon; Stanley A. ''The Clinton Presidency: Campaigning, Governing, and the Psychology of Leadership'' Westview Press, 1995 
* {{cite journal |last1=Renshon |first1=Stanley A. |title=The Polls: The Public's Response to the Clinton Scandals, Part 2: Diverse Explanations, Clearer Consequences |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |date=June 2002 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=412–427 |id={{Gale|A87354430}} {{ProQuest|215686253}} |doi=10.1111/j.0360-4918.2002.00228.x |jstor=27552394}}
* Romano, Flavio. ''Clinton and Blair: the political economy of the third way'' (Routledge, 2007)
* Rushefsky, Mark E. and Kant Patel. ''Politics, Power & Policy Making: The Case of Health Care Reform in the 1990s'' (1998) {{ISBN|978-1-56324-956-3}}
* Schantz, Harvey L. ''Politics in an Era of Divided Government: Elections and Governance in the Second Clinton Administration'' (2001) {{ISBN|978-0-8153-3583-2}}
* Troy, Gill. ''The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s'' (2015)
* {{cite journal |last1=Walt |first1=Stephen M. |title=Two Cheers for Clinton's Foreign Policy |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=2000 |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=63–79 |doi=10.2307/20049641 |jstor=20049641}}
* Warshaw, Shirley Anne. ''The Clinton Years'' (Infobase Publishing, 2009)
* White, Mark, ed. ''The Presidency of Bill Clinton: The Legacy of a New Domestic and Foreign Policy'' (I.B.Tauris, 2012)

===Arkansas years===
* Allen, Charles and Jonathan Portis. ''The Life and Career of Bill Clinton: The Comeback Kid'' (1992).
* Blair, Diane D. "The Big Three of Late Twentieth-Century Arkansas Politics: Dale Bumpers, Bill Clinton, and David Pryor." ''Arkansas Historical Quarterly'' 54.1 (1995): 53–79. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40030927 online]
* Blair, Diane D.  "William Jefferson Clinton" in ''The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography'' ed. by Willard B. Gatewood Jr., et al. (1995)
* Brummett, John. ''Highwire: From the Backroads to the Beltway: The Education of Bill Clinton'' (Hyperion, 1994).
* Clinton, Bill. '' My Life: The Early Years'' (Random House, 2004)
* Dumas, Ernest, ed. ''The Clintons of Arkansas: An Introduction by Those Who Knew Them Best'' (University of Arkansas Press, 1993) [https://books.google.com/books?id=X3fKRpNuMe0C&dq=Governor++Clinton++Arkansas:&pg=PR11 online].
* ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas'' (2023) [https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/?s=Clinton online]
* Johnston, Phyllis F. ''Bill Clinton's Public Policy for Arkansas: 1979-80'' (Little Rock: August House, 1982).
* Maraniss, David. ''First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton'' (Simon & Schuster, 1995).
* Marcus, Alan. "Bill Clinton in Arkansas: generational politics, the technology of political communication and the permanent campaign." ''The Historian'' 72.2 (2010): 354–385. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24454837 online]
* Oakley, Meredith L. ''On the make: The rise of Bill Clinton'' (Regnery Publishing, 1994), attack from the right.
* Osborne, David. "Turning around Arkansas' Schools: Bill Clinton and Education Reform." ''American Educator: The Professional Journal of the American Federation of Teachers'' 16.3 (1992): 6–17. [https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ453909 online]
* Smith, Stephen A., ed. ''Preface to the Presidency: Selected Speeches of Bill Clinton, 1974–1992'' (University of Arkansas Press, 1996).

{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|wikt=Clinton|b=no|s=Author:William Jefferson Clinton|v=no}}
{{commons category}}

===Official===
* [https://www.clintonlibrary.gov Presidential Library & Museum]
* [https://www.clintonfoundation.org Clinton Foundation]
* [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/william-j-clinton/ White House biography]
* [https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/Hope.html Archived White House website]

===Interviews, speeches, and statements===
* {{C-SPAN|1651}}
* {{TED speaker}}
* [http://millercenter.org/president/speeches#clinton Full audio of a number of Clinton speeches] [[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0027/menu.html Oral History Interview with Bill Clinton] from [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/ Oral Histories of the American South], June 1974
* [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/09/18/060918fa_fact1 "The Wanderer"], a profile from ''[[The New Yorker]]'', September 2006

===Media coverage===
* {{Guardian topic}}
* {{New York Times topic|new_id=person/bill-clinton}}

===Other===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070504050918/http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/clinton Extensive essays on Bill Clinton] and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the [[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?151639-1/life-portrait-bill-clinton "Life Portrait of Bill Clinton"], from [[C-SPAN]]'s ''[[American Presidents: Life Portraits]]'', December 20, 1999
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/clinton/player/ ''Clinton''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313193547/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/clinton/player/ |date=March 13, 2017 }}&nbsp;an ''[[American Experience]]'' documentary
* {{Twitter}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{Gutenberg author|id=3565}}
* [https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/04/04/clinton-bush-heavyweight-orig.cnn 1992 election episode in CNN's Race for the White House]

{{Bill Clinton}}
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